Male security guards working in the United Kingdom are at significant risk of dying from the new coronavirus, according to the UK’s statistics office. “Men working as security guards had one of the highest rates, with 45.7 deaths per 100,000,” the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. “Compared with the rate among people of the same sex and age in England and Wales, men working in the lowest skilled occupations had the highest rate of death involving COVID-19, with 21.4 deaths per 100,000 males.”
Until April 20, at least 2,494 deaths were registered in England and Wales involving the coronavirus in the working-age population – people aged between 20 and 64. Almost two-thirds of those deaths were among men, ONS said. Male taxi drivers and chauffeurs were also at a high risk – with a rate of 36.4 deaths for every 100,000; followed by chefs, bus and coach drivers and social care workers – the latter with a rate of 26.4 deaths for every 100,000.
Female social care workers were also at risk – but with a lower rate of 9.6 deaths for every 100,000. The ONS data follows an announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on plans to start easing the coronavirus lockdown in the UK. He advised construction workers to return to work but said people should avoid taking public transport where possible, and instead use a car. Johnson’s announcement caused some confusion among Britons, who questioned what they would be allowed to do in terms of travelling to work and social distancing.
The UK is Europe’s worst-affected country – and the world’s second-worst hit after the United States – in terms of deaths relating to coronavirus. To date, about 32,000 people have died from the new coronavirus, which has infected more than 220,000.
