Oxford researchers have found a common gene in South Asians that doubles the risk of death from Covid-19.
Researchers at the University of Oxford have found that the LZTFL1 gene, which is present in 61.2% of South Asians, allows the virus to multiply more easily in the lungs. This figure is 2.4% in Africans, 15.7% in Europeans, and 1.8% in East Asians.
The researchers say this genetic trait may partly explain the cause of death in South Asians in Britain. Bangladeshi men are five times more likely to die than their white counterparts in the second wave of the outbreak in Britain, according to data released by the British National Statistics Office (ONS). The Pakistanis were the second ethnic group and the Indians the fourth.
