London (CNN) More than half of pregnant women admitted to UK hospitals with Covid-19 were from black or other ethnic minority groups, according to a national study published Monday in the BMJ medical journal. Researchers led by the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Population Health warned that although transmission of the virus to infants was uncommon and most women had "good outcomes," the high proportion of infected women from black or minority backgrounds "needs urgent investigation and explanation." A separate government review by Public Health England found last week that members from the UK's ethnic minority communities are up to 50% more likely to die with coronavirus than their white British peers. The latest study is based on data from the UK's Obstetric Surveillance System, a national system established to study a range of rare disorders of pregnancy. The researchers said that of 427 pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid-19 between March 1 and April 14, more than half were from minority groups, including 25% who were Asian and 22% who were black.

Source: CNN June 08, 2020 20:15 UTC