Liverpool's coronavirus death rate over a six week period was one of the highest outside London as new figures suggest the UK's most deprived areas are bearing the brunt of the pandemic.
The report, from the Office for National Statistics, reveals that deaths in more deprived areas are outstripping those in less deprived areas by two to one.
The ONS report looks at deaths from March 1 to April 17 this year, examining the links between deprivation and deaths from coronavirus.
The mortality rate in Liverpool for the six week period stood at 82 deaths per 100,000 people.
It is one of the highest rates outside London, which has so far been the epicentre of the UK's outbreak.
Liverpool has a significantly higher proportion of people living in deprivation than the national average.
The ONS report comes just after the government released council funding allocations for coronavirus, with cuts for boroughs across our region as the government removed deprivation as a factor in deciding where to allocate money.
Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson warned yesterday that the city faced bankruptcy after the new allocations threatened to leave Liverpool £40m short of the costs it is incurring battling the pandemic.
Nick Stripe, head of health analysis for the ONS, said deaths rates in areas with high deprivation were double those of less deprived areas.
He said: “People living in more deprived areas have experienced COVID-19 mortality rates more than double those living in less deprived areas.
"General mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, but so far COVID-19 appears to be taking them higher still.”
Within the North, only Salford's mortality rate was higher than Liverpool's, at 93 per 100,000.
London is at the epicentre of the UK's outbreak and some boroughs within the capital have significantly higher mortality rates than the UK average.
Newham's mortality rate stood at 144 per 100,000, Brent's stood at 142, while Hackney's was 127.
Mr Stripe said: “By mid-April, the region with the highest proportion of deaths involving COVID-19 was London, with the virus being involved in more than 4 in 10 deaths since the start of March.
“In contrast, the region with the lowest proportion of COVID-19 deaths was the South West, which saw just over 1 in 10 deaths involving coronavirus.
“The 11 local authorities with the highest mortality rates were all London boroughs, with Newham, Brent and Hackney suffering the highest rates of COVID-19 related deaths.”
