Update Log

This live paper will be updated weekly as the covid-19 crisis develops. In this section we will keep track of the changes made every week.

Our approach and our use of language: We added an overview of our collaborative approach
Area 1 Health Inequalities: We have added significant detail across all subsections including emerging data and background to inequities
Area 2 Emergency Measures Legislation: We have added further detail to the section on the impact of emergency legislation in the education system
Area 3 Risk of Destitution: We have updated this section, in particular addressing significant housing concerns for BAME communities. We have also added a section for BAME communities with no recourse to public funds
Area 4 Hostile Environment: We have added detail on current action being taken by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants
Area 5 Protection and Enforcement: We have added further information on the emerging impact on domestic violence cases in the UK, and the increase in reported hate crimes and racist targeting online. We have expanded the section on action needed for those in detention and in prisons.
Our writers and contributors: We have added a section to celebrate those who have contributed to this paper

Area 1 Health Inequalities: We have added further detail on impact that covid-19 is having on BAME nurses and on Filipino healthcare workers.
Area 2 Emergency Measures Legislation: We have added further detail on the impact that the policing of social distancing guidelines is having on BAME people, as well as detail on how BAME pupils could face bias in teacher assessed grading.
Area 3 Risk of Destitution: We have added information on the precarious situation faced by BAME people in the private rented sector, including fears of eviction due to perceived risk of covid-19 contagion.
Area 4 Hostile Environment: We have added information about cross party MP letter calling on government to suspend NHS charges for migrants and data sharing with the Home Office.

Area 1 Health Inequalities: We have added information about actions from NHS England to protect BAME staff who are disproportionately dying. We have also included significant detail on the risks to young people following MAC UK’s briefing paper.
Area 3 Risk of Destitution: We have added a note on Mutual Aid Groups and their origins and link to a case study of an Uber who was evicted and died from Covid-19.
Area 4 Hostile Environment: We have added significant updates to this section as increased data emerges on the risk to migrants and refugees, along with urgent calls for government support
Area 5 Protection and Enforcement: We have added charities calls for hotel accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse and the Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) sector’s call for ring-fenced funds for VAWG service providers, specifically those led by and for BME women, deaf and disabled women, and LGBT survivors. We have also added prison release under Covid-19.

Area 1 Health Inequalities: Data released by the Office for National Statistics examining Covid-19 related deaths and variation by ethnicity has been incorporated into the paper. These show an increased likelihood of death among ethnic minorities. We have also included details about the launch of a Public Health England review into the factors impacted health outcomes, including ethnicity, to be led by Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health Director for London. A survey by the British Medical Association showing the inadequate levels of PEE provided for BAME doctors compared to their white counterparts has also been cited.
Area 2 Emergency Measures and Legislation: The NASUWT, the Teachers’ Union, has raised concerns that opening schools too early could adversely impact pupil’s and staff from the poorest and BAME community.

Area 3 Risk of Destitution: We have added information about plans announced by Uber to make 3700 employees redundant as a result of the crisis.
Area 4 Hostile Environment: . Information regarding allegations made against the Home Office about attempts to block the release of migrants from immigration detention has also been incorporated. A report by The Children’s Society highlighting how NRPF and strict immigration policies are trapping thousands of families in a cycle of poverty and destitution has also been included.
Area 5 Protection and Enforcement: This section has been updated with insight and research regarding the rise in xenophobic attacks against Chinese communities in the UK.

Area 1 Health Inequalities: We have added information about the racialisation of vulnerable groups, statistics showing the disproportionate deaths of BAME people and digital exclusion. We have also included details about the disproportionate hospitalisation of pregnant women from BAME backgrounds responses from the Mayor London, Coalition for Race Equality and Rights and Public Health England into the disproportionate deaths of people of colour.
Area 2 Emergency Measures and Legislation: We have added information on unlawful prosecutions under the Coronavirus Act, disproportionate use of tasers on black men by police and reopening of schools.
Area 3 Risk of Destitution: We have added extensive updates about the easing of lockdown measures and the implications that will have for BAME people returning to work and the high court ruling that denying benefits to migrant families is unlawful
Area 4 Hostile Environment: We have added significant updates to this section as increased data emerges on the risk to migrants and refugees, along with urgent calls for government support
Area 5 Protection and Enforcement: We have added a note on abuse and violence perpetrated against migrant women, and hate crimes committed against Chinese people.

Area 1 Health Inequalities: The latest figures show that 27 of the 29 doctors who have died from COVID-19 are BAME. Concerns have been raised by the Philippines Ambassador to the UK, as Filipino nurses are pressured into working in situations they aren't trained or prepared for.
Area 3 Risk of Destitution: Rises in hate crimes against East Asian groups have risen, with senior members of the community calling for an independent inquiry, with the xenophobia impacting independent businesses run by East Asian families.
Area 5 Protection and Enforcement: BAME employees are facing further anxieties in addition to workplace safety, with job security a risk factor too. In the same week that a cleaner was fired for refusing to work without PPE and a taxi driver died after he was spat at by a passenger evading a £9 fare, job cuts have impacted BAME folk across all age groups. Entry level jobs have been cut severely, and low-paid jobs that are frequently filled by BAME workers have sharply declined in vacancies too.