January was the Liverpool City Region’s deadliest month of the Covid-19 pandemic, new figures have revealed.
The first month of the year saw 868 deaths from Covid-19 according to statistics published by the government on Thursday (February 4).
This shocking death toll eclipses the figure of 860 coronavirus deaths in April, previously the worst month of the crisis in the region and reflects the huge spike in cases following the relaxation of restrictions to allow people to mix on Christmas Day.
That single day of mixing, combined with a new, more infectious strain of the virus and laxer Tier 2 restrictions before and after Christmas contributed to cases tripling or quadrupling in some areas.
This spike placed additional strain on the region’s hospitals, which had still not recovered fully from the second wave in the autumn and saw patient numbers reach new heights.
As in previous waves of the pandemic, the surge in infections and hospital admissions eventually led to a huge rise in deaths.
January now accounts for more than a quarter of the city region’s Covid-19 deaths.
For every borough except Knowsley and Liverpool, January saw more Covid deaths than any previous month.
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Wirral was the worst-hit of any borough, recording 226 deaths compared to 191 in April, while Liverpool itself also saw more than 200 deaths in a month for only the second time during the crisis.
The figures also show that there have already been 64 Covid deaths in February, more than there were in July, August or September, with the city region still recording more than 250 deaths per week.
However, infection rates continue to fall sharply and the number of hospital patients with Covid-19 is also beginning to tail off suggesting that the region is now past the peak of the crisis.
