Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy has written to the Health Minister to urge him to expand the collection of data regarding COVID-19 deaths.

The party’s disability spokesperson said:

“I am concerned about the lack of data collection regarding COVID-19 deaths of d/Deaf and disabled people.

“NISRA records the death rates for Covid-19 by age and gender, but the data relating to Covid deaths amongst d/Deaf and disabled people does not exist.

“Statistics in England had shown that from early 2020 to early 2021, 6 in 10 COVID-19 deaths were from people that were disabled. This confirmed concerns that disabled people were more at risk of the virus and required greater protection.

“Due to this not data being recorded here, we cannot fully understand the extent that Covid has had on disabled people, which has ramifications for policy decisions on restrictions and protection.

“We also know that in Britain ethnic minorities are at a higher risk of getting sick or passing away from the virus, but again, we don’t collect the data to assess the risk to our ethnic minority communities.

“I have asked the Health Minister to work with NISRA to widen the scope of data collection to include disability and other Section 75 protected characteristics.”