Britons can now search the number of coronavirus deaths in their own neighbourhoods after an interactive map was posted online by the Office for National Statistics.
The chart shows how many fatalities have been linked to Covid-19 in every local authority area in England and Wales.
The London boroughs of Newham, Brent and Hackney are shown to be the three worst-hit areas, suffering 144, 142 and 127 deaths per 100,000, respectively.
Seven other neighbourhoods in the capital – Tower Hamlets, Haringey, Harrow, Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and Ealing – account for the full top 10 local authorities with the highest death rates, the report shows.
Numbers are also high in the West Midlands, Manchester and Liverpool.
Norwich and Hastings in East Sussex, have the lowest rates, suffering just five and six deaths per 100,000, respectively.
The findings – taken from deaths registered between 1 March and 17 April – appear to support what anecdotal evidence has long suggested: that the illness is not a great leveller assome have suggested.
Rather, residents living in the most deprived areas of England and Wales are dying at double the rate of those in the most affluent postcodes.
Taken together, the poorest regions have suffered an average 55 Covid-19-related deaths per 100,000 people, compared to a corresponding figure of just 25 in the wealthiest neighbourhoods.
Analysts say the divide is likely to be caused by multiple factors.
Those living in poverty tend to smoke and drink in a larger quantity, are more likely to be obese and tend to have greater numbers of chronic illnesses – all of which increase the likelihood of suffering more severely with the bug.
Crucially, too, those on lower incomes are more likely to use public transport and more likely to live in shared properties – driving up the chance of catching the virus in the first place. They are less likely to be able to work from home during the lockdown.
