These are not just numbers or statistics. Each one is a real person with a real family

People living in the poorest areas are more likely to die after contracting coronavirus, new data from the Scottish Government has shown – and Inverclyde is hardest hit.

Deaths from the disease have been linked to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) for the first time and it shows 28% of coronavirus victims lived in the poorest 20% of Scotland, while 12% of victims were in the richest 20%.

SIMD breaks down areas of Scotland into five and there were 13,297 deaths in the poorest communities while 5,788 people died in the richest, according to the latest figures.

Data has also been released that shows the worst-hit council areas also include the most deprived communities in the country.

There have been 93 deaths from Covid-19 in Inverclyde, which includes Greenock, the most deprived area in Scotland. That equates to a death rate of 12.7 people per 10,000, more than double the national rate of 5.1.

The Sunday Post told last month how the poorest communities in Scotland were hardest hit by coronavirus. A doctor working on a coronavirus ward told the Post: “We do not have data on this but almost all of our patients are from the lower socio-economic groups and a high proportion are in frontline tasks.”

At the time, Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan said he expected more people to die of the virus in his constituency because it includes Scotland’s most deprived area.

Speaking to the Post last night, Mr Cowan said: “I did not want to be proven right.

“I wasn’t surprised we were the highest but I was surprised by the differential. It’s almost three times the national average, which is horrendous.”

Laura Reilly, who manages a food bank in Greenock, said: “It’s a horrible situation here. We have been saying it was worse here for weeks and now we have the statistics that prove we were right.”

Ms Reilly said 50% of food box requests came from people with coronavirus in the four weeks from March 26, but in the past two weeks, 65% of people requesting food boxes have the virus.

The second-worst affected council area in Scotland, with a death rate of 9.7 people per 10,000, was West Dunbartonshire, which includes Clydebank.

The rate in Glasgow is about six people per 10,000, putting Scotland’s biggest city third on the list of worst-hit council areas.