A new interactive map reveals the places in England and Wales which have suffered the highest Covid-19 mortality rates since the start of the pandemic.
Heartbreaking data released this morning revealed that deprived areas have twice the death rates as wealthy areas.
Last month North West England had the highest Covid-19 mortality rate, with one in eight deaths linked to the killer virus, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
Since the start of the pandemic, parts of London have recorded the highest coronavirus death rates - the number of fatalities per 100,000 of the population.
Middlesbrough, Salford and Hertsmere have also been hard hit since March, the figures show.
How much does deprivation affect death rates?
In England, deprived areas suffered 139.6 deaths per 100,000 people between March and June - compared to 63.4 in wealthier places.
There was a similar discrepancy in Wales, with 119.1 deaths per 100,000 in poorer areas compared to 63.5 in affluent places.
Last month the Covid-19 mortality rate in more deprived areas was 137.5% higher than wealthier places.
An ONS report said: "This was a bigger proportional difference in rates than observed for the four-month period overall."
What places suffered highest death rates last month?
In June, mortality rates feel dramatically across England and Wales.
There were an estimated 9.0 Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 population in worst-hit North West England, down from 27.5 in the previous month.
North East England saw the biggest drop, from 33.5 deaths per 100,000 in May to 7.2 per 100,000 in June.
South West England had the lowest Covid-19 mortality rate of 2.1 last month.
In London the rate fell from 16.2 in May to 3.1 in June, having peaked at 94.7 in April.
Which places have been worst hit since March?
Since the start of the pandemic, the London borough of Brent, with a rate of 216.6 deaths per 100,000 people, has been worst hit.
It is followed by Newham, which has a rate of 201.6, and Haringey with 185.1.
Outside London, Middlesbrough has a coronavirus mortality rate of 178.0 deaths per 100,000 people, slightly higher than Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, which has recorded 166.7 deaths per 100,000 people.
Salford in Greater Manchester has a rate of 166.2 since March.
What do the experts say?
Sarah Caul, Head of Mortality Analysis at ONS, 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 1 in 30 deaths involving the coronavirus, while the North West had the highest where 1 in 8 deaths in June were Covid-19 related.”
What is the mortality rate across England and Wales?
There were 50,574 deaths in England and Wales between 1 March and 30 June 2020 and registered by 11 July 2020 that involved Covid-19.
This represented 22.9% of all deaths occurring over this period.
Across the two countries, 220,636 deaths people died from all causes.
There were 88.0 deaths involving Covid-19 per 100,000 people in England and Wales over the period March to June 2020.
This was 88.7 per 100,000 people in England compared with 73.7 per 100,000 people in Wales.
