Covid-19 and Social Inequalities in Health in the UK

Shortly before the UK was struck by the Covid-19 pandemic, research was published which showed that since 2010 ‘inequalities in life expectancy have widened and life expectancy fell in the most deprived communities’.1 Such inequalities in health are mainly caused by wider social inequalities. Evidence of the demographics of those who died as a result of the virus, served to highlight how these inequalities disproportionately led to the elderly and BME communities contracting Covid-19 and succumbing to it. This article will discuss how the health and wellbeing of socially disadvantaged people were negatively impacted. It argues that these inequalities are a breach of Article 2 of the Human Rights Act 1988 - the right to life, in that this right cannot be equally accessed by all. Finally, the article explores the current and future practice implications for social workers, who work daily with some of the most vulnerable people in society.