Elementary occupations including taxi drivers and security guards suffered the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths between 9th March to 25th May, new data reveals.
Data released by Office of National Statistics reveal that a total of 4,761 deaths, due to COVID-19, were registered between 9th March to 25th May of people aged 20 to 64 in England and Wales.
66% of these deaths were among men, with 3,122 losing their lives to the coronavirus.
Men in elementary occupations had the highest rate of deaths due to COVID-19 with 40 deaths per 100,000 men.
Specifically, taxi, cab drivers and chauffeurs, security guards and road transport drivers suffered the highest number of deaths during this time.
Those working as security guards had the highest death rate with 74 deaths per 100,000 men.
Unite the Union, the UK’s leading union for employees in the workplace, released a statement calling for an urgent “public inquiry into the death rates of workers from COVID-19” during the pandemic.
The Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland said: “Many of the professions with the highest number of deaths are not only low paid but have both a long and unsocial hours culture, which often creates specific health problems over time.
“A full public inquiry into these deaths must investigate not only if these workers were failed by lack of PPE, but also if they were significantly more susceptible to the disease due to the cumulative effects that working long and unsocial hours had on their health.”
Both men and women that worked in social care such as care workers and home carers had significantly higher rates of death involving COVID-19.