The stark contrast the shadow of Covid casts over different parts of the Anglia region

  • Anglia

The tragic spread of coronavirus across the country has devastated countless families and communities.

The pandemic is generating a huge range of statistical data which tells us more about the unequal impact the disease is having on all our lives. And it reveals the grim toll of the coronavirus has been much more severe in some parts of the Anglia region than others.

It makes a bigger impact on areas of greater social deprivation than the more affluent districts. And some sections of the community, like those from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, those who are older and those with some existing health conditions are more susceptible to the illness.

From March to May, the death rate from coronavirus was seven times higher in Luton than it was in Norwich. Credit: ITV News Anglia

At the current stage of the pandemic, people in Luton are seven times more likely to die with coronavirus than people in Norwich. The death rate in Northampton is twice as high as in the neighbouring area of South Northamptonshire.

The latest Covid-19 figures from the Office of National Statistics cover the three-month period from March and to May and have been adjusted for the existing age profile of each area so one district can be compared with another.

According to the ONS, 4,549 people in the East of England lost their lives to Covid-19 between March and May. The wider Anglia region is the East of England plus Northamptonshire, Rutland and Milton Keynes and the death toll in that area is 5,368.

Nurses sit with lit candles bearing the names of 235 health and social care workers who have died from coronavirus during a vigil. Credit: PA Images

A Government review found that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people are up to twice as likely to die of coronavirus in the UK than white British people are.

The Public Health England review into disparities around the risk of coronavirus identified age as the biggest factor but said that people of Bangladeshi ethnicity are around twice as likely to die of coronavirus compared to people of White British ethnicity.

People of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Other Asian, Caribbean and Other Black ethnicity are between 10% and 50% more likely to die when compared with White people.

A report with advice for Government on how to protect BAME communities from coronavirus is expected to be published this week - following anger at its omission from an initial release.

Public Health England (PHE) said the recommendations will be published when submitted to ministers.

Boris Johnson visits the National Biosample Centre in Milton Keynes, which is used to analyse the coronavirus swab samples. Credit: Andrew Parsons/DPA/PA Images

The death rate in the most deprived areas of England from Covid-19 was more than twice as high as in the least deprived between March and May.

However there was already a strong link between social wealth and the death rate before the pandemic. The death rate for non-Covid causes is also nearly twice as high in the most deprived areas as it is in the least deprived.

In the 10% of areas with the most deprivation in England the coronavirus death rate was 128 people per 100,000 population compared to 59 deaths per 100,000 in the 10% of areas with the least deprivation.

There are large differences in the coronavirus death rate in different parts of the Anglia region. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Council areas in the Anglia region with the highest Covid-19 death rates

  • Hertsmere 162 deaths per 100,000

  • Watford 154 deaths per 100,000

  • Luton 129 deaths per 100,000

  • Northampton 127 deaths per 100,000

  • Epping Forest 125 deaths per 100,000

  • Thurrock 110 deaths per 100,000

  • Basildon 110 deaths per 100,000

  • Milton Keynes 103 deaths per 100,000

  • Harlow 97 deaths per 100,000

  • Welwyn Hatfield 93 deaths per 100,000

Council areas in the Anglia region with the lowest Covid-19 death rates

  • Norwich 18 deaths per 100,000

  • North Norfolk 27 deaths per 100,000

  • South Norfolk 29 deaths per 100,000

  • Great Yarmouth 31 deaths per 100,000

  • South Cambridgeshire 33 deaths per 100,000

  • West Suffolk 34 deaths per 100,000

  • Broadland 38 deaths per 100,000

  • Maldon 41 deaths per 100,000

  • Rutland 41 deaths per 100,000

  • Babergh 42 deaths per 100,000

For the purposes of this article, the Anglia region has been defined as the government region of the East of England plus Northamptonshire, Rutland and Milton Keynes.

The Office of National Statistics produced the age-adjusted coronavirus death rate to take into account the age profile and demographics of each area.