An investigation into the prevalence of coronavirus among minority groups in the UK has revealed relatively fewer cases in areas where Muslim communities make up a high proportion of the population.
Lower levels of Covid-19 in certain parts of Britain were called “striking” in a report by research group Webber Phillips.
Its analysis of the progress of the disease sought to establish socio-economic explanations for variations in the data for the pandemic so far.
The authors suggested that low figures in places such Tower Hamlets in London and Blackburn in Lancashire could be linked to population make-up and daily practices in some communities.
It suggested that ablutions before prayers may have helped to curbed the spread of the disease in some places.
"If one key to stopping transmission of the virus is hand washing, might a faith community, many of whose members ritually wash before five times a day prayers, have something to teach the rest of us?" the group's director, Trevor Phillips, wrote in The Times.
Mr Phillips has faced accusations of making inflammatory statements against Muslims.
He has denied the criticism, claiming to highlight issues that should concern society as a whole.
The controversies have been magnified by Mr Phillips's former role as head of Britain’s watchdog on community relations, the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
In March he was suspended from the Labour Party for comments about the outlook for Britain’s Muslim community.
The Webber Phillips investigation found that 13 of 17 Covid-19 hotspots in England and Wales had non-white populations above the national average.
The British government has launched an official review into the heavy toll the virus has taken on people from black, Asian and minority backgrounds.
As a percentage of the population, the communities represent 13 per cent of England and Wales but 44 per cent of health service staff.
Of the 81 medical staff who have died, 50 are from minority backgrounds.
Larger rates are also reported in the wider death figures.
Local authorities such Brent and Harrow in London, both with above 50 per cent non-white populations, appeared in the top four of local reporting districts.
But bucking the trend among areas with large minority groups were predominantly Muslim local authorities.
“Most striking is the absence from this list of virtually all the English local authorities where the dominant minority group is Pakistani or Bangladeshi Muslim: Tower Hamlets, Luton, Slough, Redbridge, Waltham Forest and Blackburn,” the report said.
It gave as an example Tower Hamlets, the area with the highest proportion of Pakistani or Bangladeshi Muslims in the country.
It had significantly lower Covid-19 cases than neighbouring Southwark, which has a large African population.
The Webber Phillips report said that the sharp difference between Muslim and other minority groups meant vulnerability is “far more likely to be environmental or behavioural”.
The report admits that for more concrete conclusions to be reached, more research is needed.
Mr Phillips also said other behavioural practices among Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities might have led to the lower rates of infection.
Jabeer Butt of the Race Equality Foundation has called for a government inquiry into the impact of the coronavirus.
"We published an analysis shortly after the start of the lockdown, which noted that while the majority of [minority] communities were comparatively younger, the impact of discrimination [higher rates of poverty, overcrowding and less access to health care] increased the risk of the impact of Covid-19," Mr Butt said in a letter published on Wednesday.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
more from Janine di Giovanni
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
How to donate
Text the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
6025 - Dh 20
2252 - Dh 50
2208 - Dh 100
6020 - Dh 200
*numbers work for both Etisalat and du
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
