Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to help tackle the disproportionate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on BAME communities.

The Government is committed to reducing disparities in health outcomes experienced by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities during this pandemic and are already taking action to do so. This includes developing effective risk assessment tools for schools and workplaces, expanding and targeting testing in high-contact professions, and working with the Race Disparity Unit to ensure that we have appropriate personal protective equipment reaching the right places. This is in addition to the wider work being taken forward by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch MP) to understand the drivers behind Public Health England’s findings on COVID-19 and BAME communities.