People in most deprived parts of England more than twice as likely to die from Covid-19

1 May 2020, 10:20

Coronavirus timeline - Deaths in hospitals in England

People living in the poorest parts of England are more than twice as likely to die from coronavirus than those in less deprived areas, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

For deaths involving Covid-19 that took place between March 1 and April 17, the mortality rate for the most deprived areas of England was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 population, compared with 25.3 deaths per 100,000 in the least deprived areas.

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The Covid-19 mortality rate is higher among men in the most deprived areas (76.7 deaths per 100,000 population) than it is for women (39.6).

General mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, the ONS said, but so far Covid-19 appears to be pushing the rates even higher.

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The worst affected local authority area in the country is Newham in London, which had 144 deaths per 100,000 population.

Brent was next worst affected, with a rate of 141.5 deaths per 100,000 population and Hackney with a rate of 127.4 deaths per 100,000 population.

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London overall has been the worst hit place in the UK by coronavirus, with 85.7 deaths per 100,000 people, a figure described as "significantly" worse than anywhere else in the country.

The local authorities with the highest mortality rates were all London boroughs.

In Wales, the most deprived areas had a mortality rate for deaths involving Covid-19 of 44.6 deaths per 100,000 people, almost twice as high as the least deprived area of 23.2 deaths per 100,000 population.

The ONS figures show that between 1 March and 17 April 2020, there were 90,232 deaths occurring in England and Wales that were registered by 18 April; 20,283 of these deaths involved the coronavirus.

The ONS data also shows there were 36.2 deaths involving COVID-19 per 100,000 people in England and Wales over the same time frame.

Nick Stripe, Head of Health Analysis for the Office for National Statistics, said: “By mid-April, the region with the highest proportion of deaths involving COVID-19 was London, with the virus being involved in more than 4 in 10 deaths since the start of March.

"In contrast, the region with the lowest proportion of COVID-19 deaths was the South West, which saw just over 1 in 10 deaths involving coronavirus.

"The 11 local authorities with the highest mortality rates were all London boroughs, with Newham, Brent and Hackney suffering the highest rates of COVID-19 related deaths.

“People living in more deprived areas have experienced COVID-19 mortality rates more than double those living in less deprived areas.

"General mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, but so far COVID-19 appears to be taking them higher still.”