London, June 27, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Security guards are most at risk of dying with COVID-19, new figures show.

Men made up two thirds of the 4,761 deaths registered among people of working age (20 to 64) in England and Wales between 9 March and 25 May, the Office for National Statistics data found.

Those working in elementary jobs faced the greatest risk. Of them, there were more security guard deaths than in any other profession at 74.0 per 100,000, or 104 deaths.

The data found men and women who regularly came into contact with other people while doing their jobs faced a higher risk of dying than other workers.

Social and home care workers recorded significantly more COVID-19-related deaths with rates of 50.1 per 100,000 men (97 deaths) and 19.1 deaths per 100,000 women (171 deaths).

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Male doctors had higher rates with 30.4 deaths per 100,000 (130 deaths) when compared with the same age and sex in the general population.

Nurses faced the highest risk in healthcare, with higher death rates among men and women. There were 50.4 deaths per 100,000 men and 15.3 deaths per 100,000 women.

The data identified four jobs where women were most at risk, including sales and retail assistants, which recorded 15.7 deaths per 100,000 or 64 deaths.

For men, 17 professions were found to have raised rates of death. Taxi drivers and chauffeurs had 65.3 per 100,000 or 134 deaths, bus and coach drivers had a rate of 44.2 per 100,000 (53 deaths) and chefs registered 56.8 per 100,000 (49 deaths).

Data from the Annual Population Survey shows a higher representation of black and Asian men in 11 of these jobs.

And as with women, men who work as sales and retail assistants also recorded a higher number of deaths compared with the general population, with 34.2 per 100,000 or 43 deaths.

Thea head of health analysis and life events at the ONS, Ben Humberstone, said many complex factors contribute to the risk of deaths during a pandemic, including jobs, age, ethnicity and underlying health conditions.

“We also know that people living in the most deprived local areas, and those living in urban areas such as London, have been found to have the highest rates of death involving COVID-19,” he said.

“Today’s analysis shows that jobs involving close proximity with others, and those where there is regular exposure to disease, have some of the highest rates of death from COVID-19. However, our findings do not prove conclusively that the observed rates of death involving COVID-19 are necessarily caused by differences in occupational exposure.”