This if anything is testament to institutionalised discrimination within this country, that is costing people lives. Discrimination in this country is killing ethnic minorities. Because they lack authority they are assigned the most risky jobs, while their white colleagues are protected from these responsibilities. This behaviour is a part of British history. In the first and the second world wars, ethnic minorities were thrown at the front lines and used as human shields by individuals, institutions and the Government. I think the same can be said of men as well. Men are given risky tasks whilst women are protected from these tasks. I do not doubt for a second that sex discrimination is a contributor to the higher death rates amongst men in this Corona pandemic. Men are being used as human shields for women, but this latter form of discrimination, I doubt very much, will ever be recognised let alone addressed because it does not fit in with the institutionalised feminist narrative.
I've personally seen both of these forms of discrimination at university and in the NHS on clinical placements. I have also spoken to many students studying healthcare courses who have suffered this discrimination at universities that teach these kind of courses. Ethnic minorities and men suffer a lot of discrimination in healthcare.
Point of interest: Whenever a crime happens involving an ethnic minority, the media is quick to point out and emphasise their ethnicity and their religion. However, most healthcare workers dying on the front lines in this pandemic are ethnic minorities and media outlets seem to be going out of their way to avoid emphasising the ethnicities and religion of these people, most of whom are clearly muslim. The media are quick to emphasise 'muslim extremism' but they seem to be intentionally avoiding referring to the muslim religion of the doctors that are dying fighting this pandemic. This is one manifestation of the institutionalised discrimination to which I referred earlier in this post.
P.S. I do not trust any of these superficial 'support' schemes put in place by the NHS or the Government. This is why I advise BAME friends and colleagues to always remain vigilant and not to take any risks. This advice of course has its limits. Where you are a minority, if you do not toe the line, if you refuse to do so, you will be made to pay a price...and then there is of course the matter of others responsible for your welfare, driven by racism/sexism, not living up to their responsibilities towards you and giving you the security that you need.