Health and social workers in the UK have been among those paying the highest price for doing their job during the coronavirus crises, a report by Amnesty International has found.
The human rights organisation said that at least 540 frontline staff have died after contracting the virus in England and Wales - second only to Russia, which has recorded 545 deaths.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that 268 deaths involving Covid-19 among social care workers were registered in England and Wales between March 9 and May 25.
In the same period, the ONS reported that 272 deaths involving the virus were registered among healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses and midwives, nurse assistants, paramedics and ambulance staff, and hospital porters.
Amnesty International said it has analysed a wide range of data, which found that more 3,000 health workers have died after contracting Covid-19 in 79 countries.
It added that this figure is likely to be a "significant under-estimate" due to under-reporting, while noting that the UK is one of few countries to distinguish between deaths of social care workers and healthcare workers - increasing the total relative to other nations.
In response to the report, the Department of Health and Social Care said the findings are "in no way an accurate comparison" with other countries.
Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK's director, said: "We have to understand whether these deaths were avoidable, and what led to this terrible outcome.
"There appears to have been a catastrophic failure to provide proper PPE (personal protective equipment) and a failure to grapple with the alarmingly high death rates among BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) health workers.
"This crisis is far from over and an independent inquiry into the Government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is urgently needed."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: "This is in no way an accurate comparison - by Amnesty's own admission, this data is distorted by the fact the UK is one of the few countries to count social care worker deaths.
"We have continuously supplied PPE to the frontline throughout this unprecedented global pandemic, with over two billion items delivered and almost 28 billion items ordered to meet future demand, and we have prioritised testing for health and care workers from the outset."
Australian Associated Press
