NHS staff from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds will be given different roles away from the frontline under plans to reduce their disproportionately high death rate from Covid-19.

BAME personnel should be “risk-assessed” and reassigned to duties that leave them at lesser risk of contracting coronavirus, under guidance set out by NHS bosses in England.

The move was unveiled in a letter sent on Wednesday to hospital trusts, providers of mental health care, ambulance services and organisations providing community-based healthcare.

It makes clear that the new guidance was prompted by growing evidence that people of BAME origin are more at risk from Covid-19, and by the need to save lives.

The nine-page letter, from NHS improvement’s chief operating officer, Amanda Pritchard, was sent to those running NHS care organisations across England. It said: “Emerging UK and international data suggest that people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are also being disproportionately affected by Covid-19.”

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It references the fact that the Department of Health and Social Care has already asked Public Health England to investigate and report back on the unusually high number of BAME people, including workers in the NHS, who are falling ill and dying from the disease

It then tells local NHS leaders: “In advance of their report and guidance, on a precautionary basis we recommend employers should risk-assess staff at potentially greater risk and make appropriate arrangements accordingly.”

It does not outline what specific measures they should take to protect the safety of their BAME staff, but it is understood that the new drive to reduce the BAME death toll would allow such personnel to be redeployed to areas or services where they would have less chance of becoming infected. They may also be given priority for testing if they develop symptoms.

One in five of NHS staff in England are from a BAME background, as are about half of all doctors in London.

Some NHS trusts have already recognised the extra risk faced by their BAME workforce and taken steps to reduce that. For example, Somerset NHS foundation trust, which provides a wide range of medical services in the county, has classed them as “vulnerable and at risk”. It has begun asking BAME staff if they feel safe at work, giving them priority for testing and ensuring that they undergo a “fit-test” in order to wear an FFP3 ventilator mask, which all health professionals working with Covid-positive patients are meant to use as a key part of their personal protective equipment.

Outlining the measures, the trust’s chief executive, Peter Lewis, told BAME staff: “Many of you will be concerned about the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME colleagues in the UK. We understand that this is worrying and we want to do all we can to ensure you feel safe and supported during this difficult time.

“Your wellbeing is very important. We have heard that many BAME colleagues are understandably worried about their own and their families’ health at this time.”

The Guardian revealed last week that minority groups were over-represented by as much as 27% in the overall Covid-19 death toll. They are also overrepresented among the number of NHS staff who have died with the virus.

It is not known why such a disparity exists. But some experts have cited social deprivation and higher rates of cancer, diabetes and heart disease among some BAME groups as likely factors, along with the fact that minority ethnic people make up a greater number of those employed in key worker roles who receive greater exposure to the virus