Coronavirus death rate in the North West of England was more than DOUBLE that of London in June

An interactive map which highlights coronavirus deaths by postcode in England and Wales reveals people in the North West were dying from coronavirus at more than double the rate of those in London in June. 

The map, which uses Office for National Statistics data, shows that one in 20 fatalities in the capital last month were caused by Covid-19, down from a staggering one in two at the height of the crisis in April.

But in the North West, where several Lancashire towns are being kept under review for potential local lockdowns amid rising cases, one in eight deaths were attributed to the virus last month, down from more than one in three at the peak.

Despite seemingly having shut out the virus, London has still suffered the highest Covid-19 death rate of any area in the UK due to how hard it was hit by the disease early on in the crisis. 

The capital recorded 141.8 Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people between march and June, which is significantly higher than the 88 deaths per 100,000 average seen across England and Wales. 

The North West has been the second worst-hit area in the UK, recording 108.9 deaths per capita, closely followed by the North East (104.9) and West Midlands (100.2).

Nine of the 10 local areas with the highest virus death rates in the UK are London boroughs, with Brent suffering 216.6 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Newham (201.6) and Haringey (185.1).   

Middlesbrough (178 deaths per 100,000), Hertsmere in Hertfordshire (166.7) and Salford, Manchester, (166.2) have suffered the three highest death rates outside of London as the epidemic continues to bombard the north.  

But all corners of the country have seen a decline in death rates since May, with fatalities plummeting by four-fifths thanks to the strict lockdown that was enforced on March 24. The greatest decrease in deaths was observed in London, where the mortality rate fell by 96.7 per cent. 

Despite seemingly having shut out the virus, London has still suffered the highest Covid-19 death rate of any area in the UK due to how hard it was hit by the disease early on in the crisis. The capital recorded 141.8 Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people between march and June. The North West has been the second worst-hit area in the UK, recording 108.9 deaths per capita, closely followed by the North East (104.9) and West Midlands (100.2)

The most deprived areas in England had a mortality rate of of 139 Covid deaths per 100,000 people, more than twice as high as in the least deprived areas (63.4)

The most deprived areas in England had a mortality rate of of 139 Covid deaths per 100,000 people, more than twice as high as in the least deprived areas (63.4)

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, are based on all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate and which had been registered by July 11.

They show the North West had the highest coronavirus mortality rate of all regions in England during June, with an estimated 9 deaths involving Covid-19 per 100,000 population across the month, down from 27.5 in May. 

The North East saw the biggest drop in virus deaths in the last month, tumbling from 33.5 deaths per 100,000 in May to just 7.2 per 100,000 in June. In London, the rate fell from 16.2 in May to 3.1 in June, having peaked at 94.7 in April.

Meanwhile the South West of England had the lowest Covid-19 mortality rate in June, recording little over two deaths per capita. It has recorded the lowest rate of any region in England during each of the last four months.  

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, are based on all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate and which had been registered by July 11. 

Sarah Caul, head of mortality analysis at the Office for National Statistics, said: ‘Following the peak recorded in April, in June we have seen a large decrease in the proportion of deaths involving COVID-19 across all English regions and Wales. 

‘London experienced the largest decrease over the period from having more than 1 in 2 deaths in April which involved COVID-19 to only about 1 in 20 deaths in June that were related to the coronavirus.

‘The South West region continued to have the lowest proportion of COVID-19 deaths in June with about one in 30 deaths involving the coronavirus, while the North West had the highest where one in 8 deaths in June were COVID-19 related.’

There were 50,574 deaths occurring in England and Wales between March 1 and June 30 and registered by July 11 that involved the coronavirus. This represented 23 per cent of all deaths occurring over this period (220,636). 

There were 88 deaths involving COVID-19 per 100,000 people in England and Wales during that time period – 88.7 per 100,000 people in England compared with 73.7 per 100,000 people in Wales. 

The most deprived areas in England had a mortality rate of of 139 Covid deaths per 100,000 people, more than twice as high as in the least deprived areas (63.4). There was a similar picture in Wales, where the rate in the poorest areas was 119.1 deaths per 100,000, nearly twice that of the wealthiest (63.5).