Millions Living in Areas with No Covid Deaths

Analysis shows that millions of people in the UK are living in areas with no deaths caused by Covid happening in April.

The figure shows about 22 million people living in areas with zero fatalities. In comparison, less than 50,000 people living in such places died in a four-week period during January’s peak.

In the first four weeks of January over 30,000 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported. This compares to less than 600 so far this month.

The findings are great news, and give confidence in improvements to the pandemic situation. Figures suggest the UK is moving into a new phase, with many areas seeing low levels of coronavirus.

However, the government still urge people to continue following restrictions and having the Covid vaccine when called. The latest lockdown and the vaccination programme have successfully reduced cases, and therefore deaths.

Despite things moving in the right direction, we still need to be cautious, as things can go wrong quickly. Lifting restrictions slowly means less chance of it happening.

Data suggests that the areas without any April deaths tended to have less confirmed coronavirus cases in March. On average, those places had 150 cases per 100,000 people.

In comparison, areas reporting deaths in April had just under 240 positive cases per 100,000 people in March.

Worst hit areas

There are some parts of the country that have gone even longer without any Covid deaths. Major city Plymouth, home to over a quarter of a million people, has not reported a death in the last 57 days. Meanwhile, it has been 60 days in Oxford and Maidstone, in Kent.

But more than a third of the deaths occurring in April were in the 19 worst hit places.

The areas with the highest death rates include Antrim and Newtownabbey and Mid and East Antrim in Northern Ireland, as well as Sedgemoor in Somerset and Bradford in West Yorkshire.

Focus in the coming months should turn to identifying and containing local and regional outbreaks.

The figures differ between the nations of the UK.

From 1-28 April around 56% of local authorities in Scotland reported no deaths. The only place to report more than nine deaths was Glasgow.

44% of local authorities in England, spreading across all regions, did not report any deaths. This suggests the situation is improving across the whole country.

9% of authorities in Northern Ireland reported no deaths, and a further 55% reported only one.

Figures for Wales are reported through local health boards, representing many more people than councils. All health boards reported at least two deaths. The only one to report more than seven was Betsi Cadwaladr in North Wales.

The figures are based on deaths happening within 28 days of a positive test. Official numbers for April are likely to increase over the coming days as there is usually a delay in reporting deaths.

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