LAYLA Moran has urged the government to convene a special taskforce to look into the 'disproportionate' impact the coronavirus has had on black and Asian people.

The Oxford West and Abingdon Liberal Democrat MP made her plea in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Public Health England has already announced it is reviewing the unequal effect the pandemic has had on minority ethnic groups, but Ms Moran called on the government to go further and 'convene a cross-party taskforce'.

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She said that 'there are some things that we can do right now', and called for coronavirus surveys to include a question on ethnicity.

Ms Moran said: "I absolutely welcome the review being done by Public Health England. Coronavirus has had a disproportionate impact on those who are BAME, and it’s urgent that we understand why, and that we then act quickly to fix this.

"A cross-party taskforce is needed to oversee and implement the findings of the review, and I hope that at the very least the Government will make a statement in the Commons when it is published.

"But there are some things that we can do right now to better understand this problem — that’s why the Lib Dems are calling on the Government to include an ethnicity question in the NHS coronavirus survey."