News reports stating that 'black people' are more likely to die of COVID-19 are appalling and NEED TO STOP.  'Black people' comprise of many different ethnic groups (Nigerians, Jamaicans, Somalis, Ethiopians to name but a few),  but we have all been lumped together into one group. Whereas COVID-19 death rate statistics for people from South Asian backgrounds have been broken down by ethnicity - Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani.  

These news reports are very racial and can lead to the ideology that it's a 'black problem', which can cause prejudice and discrimination. COVID-19 is a HUMAN PROBLEM.

Instead of using the term ' black people ' it would be more appropriate for these news reports to state that 'death rates of NHS workers from African/Caribbean/South Asian backgrounds have been high maybe due to underlying health conditions.'

Are the current COVID-19 death rate statistics of  those from the aforementioned ethnic backgrounds based on NHS workers. If so, it would be inaccurate to use this to generalise about the whole 'black population' in the UK. Recognition should also be given to the fact that a high percentage of NHS workers are from African, Caribbean and South Asian backgrounds and other Frontline services and are therefore at greater risk of being infected by this virus.

The fact still remains that this is a new virus and there is currently NO HARD EVIDENCE OR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH THAT LINKS RACE/ETHNICITY TO COVID-19. 

Please help stop the use of the term 'black people' in these news reports by signing this petition and/or by contacting Sky News and BBC News via twitter or email. BBC Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, Sky News email: news@sky.com