ISLAMABAD-Patients of Black ethnicity have an increased risk of requiring hospital admission for COVID-19, while patients of Asian ethnicity have an increased risk of dying in hospital from COVID-19, compared to White patients, a study has found. Data analysis published recently in EClinicalMedicine, led by researchers at King’s College London, with support from the NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre and the British Heart Foundation (BHF), examines the relationship between ethnic background and the virus SARS-CoV-2. The study confirms that minority ethnic patients bear a higher burden of the disease than White patients and also finds that Black patients and Asian patients are affected at different stages of the disease. Professor Ajay Shah, BHF Professor of Cardiology at King’s College London and Consultant Cardiologist at King’s College Hospital, said: “The finding that Black versus Asian patients are affected in quite different ways, and that significant risk persists even after adjustment for deprivation and long-term health conditions, is striking.