British Asian celebrities have joined forces to create a Covid-19 video appeal aimed at promoting safety measures within the British Asian community amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-minute video features stars of music, TV and media – including ITV News Presenter Ranvir Singh, Naughty Boy, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ameet Chana and GMB’s Adil Ray – appealing to people in the British Asian community with “an urgent message” to adhere to government coronavirus guidance and protect the most vulnerable.
The film opens with Eastenders’ actor Nitin Ganatra delivering a stark message, warning that coronavirus – “the greatest threat to our lives in recent history” – “may be even worse” for British Asians.
The appeal comes as NHS England data revealed more than 16% of people who had tested positive for coronavirus when they died were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.
Research quoted by Mr Ganatra in the campaign suggests more than one-third of patients who are critically ill in hospital with the virus are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Of the more than 60 NHS workers who have died with Covid-19, a significant proportion were from BAME backgrounds.
Adil Ray said on Twitter that “a few of us felt we needed to do something,” in response to the crisis that was disproportionally affecting the British Asian and other BAME communities.
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