People from ethnic minorities are at a higher risk of dying from coronavirus, a report by Public Health England says, APA reports citing BBC.
It shows age remains the biggest risk factor, while being male is another.
The impact of Covid-19 is also "disproportionate" for other Asian, Caribbean and black ethnicities. But it remains unclear why.
The health secretary said the "troubling" report was "timely" because "right across the world people are angry about racial injustice".
On Monday night, the Department of Health and Social Care denied reports the delay was down to official concerns of potential civil unrest linked to global anger over the death of African-American George Floyd.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons the public was "understandably angry about injustices" and that he felt a "deep responsibility because this pandemic has exposed huge disparities in the health of our nation".
"Black lives matter, as do those of the poorest areas of our country which have worse health outcomes and we need to make sure all of these considerations are taken into account, and action is taken to level-up the health outcomes of people across this country," he said.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, Mr Hancock said "much more work" needed to be done to understand "what's driving these disparities".
"We are absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this and find ways of closing this gap," he said, adding that he has asked equalities minister Kemi Badenoch to continue working on the issue alongside Public Health England (PHE).
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