Up to four times higher mortality rate in the most deprived areas

Working age adults in the most deprived areas of England were almost four times higher to die from Covid-19 than in the wealthiest areas, a study has found.

The Covid-19 mortality rate was 3.7 times higher in those under 65 living in the poorest 10 per cent of neighbourhoods in England compared to the wealthiest, a nine month inquiry from non-profit the Health Foundation has found.

This effect is likely to be similar across Scotland, said senior research fellow on the inquiry Mehrunisha Suleman.

“We know people in more deprived areas across the UK have poorer underlying health, as well as socio-economic circumstances which means they have fewer opportunities for good health,” she said.

“Unfortunately that means it' s likely that this trend would be applicable across the UK."

Ms Suleman added: “Because of the historic poor life expectancy and prevailing inequalities in Scotland, a lot of the lessons from the inquiry, though UK wide, are applicable.”

Ms Suleman called for action on tackling health inequalities, which were present before the pandemic, in the wake of the crisis.

“It would be really good if people do pickup that message and it' s something that can be translated into policy and action .”

Certain groups saw “disproportionate” exposure to the virus and deaths as a result.

These included older people, people from ethnic minority communities, disabled people and people working in certain occupations, including some key worker roles.

Among workers, men in roles such as security guards, care workers and taxi drivers were more likely to die from the virus.

The report found the UK had the fourth highest excess deaths per population of OECD countries during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the first wave, the rate of excess deaths in the UK was only exceeded by spain, mexico and the US among the 33 OECD countries.

Excess deaths for people younger than 65 were the second highest in europe after bulgaria.

The “single biggest factor” influencing the effect of Covid-19 across different countries was the timing of lockdowns coming into force, the authors found.