Nope, that “research” does not go far enough in identifying race as an independent factor - it only claims race is a disproportionate factor after controlling for gender, age, deprivation and region, e.g.:
“after accounting for the effect of sex, age, deprivation and region, people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death when compared to people of white British ethnicity.”
However, as the website itself admits: “There are likely to be complex socio-economic, occupational, health and structural inequalities and cultural factors explaining the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the BAME population.”
i.e. they have not considered or been willing to publish that health differences explain the root cause of the difference in outcomes between races, as per the research cited in the NYT article I posted. They did not attempt or publish the test which controls for differences is in health between the races.
It’s the same for the PHE review - they have not controlled for health-related independent variables.
In fact, here is some published feedback on the PHE review from a reputable, “expert” academic which makes the same point (and I happened to stumble upon this feedback after having already written all of my above comment):
Prof Seif Shaheen, Professor of Respiratory Epidemiology, Queen Mary University of London, said:
“This latest report from PHE is welcome, but the analyses of ethnicity as a risk factor for COVID-19 are disappointing as they do little to clarify why, for example, people of Black ethnicity have the highest rates of diagnosis and why Bangladeshis have the highest mortality rates, compared to Whites. Whilst the mortality analyses adjusted for age and area-based deprivation, they did not adjust for other risk factors which are more prevalent in people from the BAME community, and which might explain their greater risk. These include patient- and public-facing occupations which increase exposure risk, comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, obesity, and smoking which is particularly prevalent in Bangladeshi men.
“Analyses which rely on routinely collected data will not be able to take account of other risk factors such as overcrowding in the home (which will increase the risk of infection in multi-generation households), and lifestyle factors; population-based studies currently underway may shed more light on risk factors for acquiring coronavirus infection in the first place.
“We urgently need to understand what underlies the greater risk of COVID-19 in ethnic minorities, so that we can focus on modifiable risk factors and devise suitable preventive strategies.”
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-phe-review-of-disparities-in-risks-and-outcomes-in-covid-19/
