More than 650 people have died of coronavirus in the city region’s care homes since the start of March, new figures reveal.
The numbers, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday, show that care home deaths across the region are almost 40% higher than previously reported.
According to weekly figures published by the ONS, 495 care home residents had died of COVID-19 in the Liverpool City Region up to mid-June.
But the new figures, compiled from reports to the Care Quality Commission, put the number at 687.
The revised figures show that Liverpool alone has suffered 202 care home deaths, while coronavirus has been connected to more than half of all care home deaths in Halton, Knowsley and St Helens.
The reason for the differences is not clear, but it could be partly caused by some severely ill care home residents being transferred to hospital, meaning the weekly figures record them as a hospital death rather than a care home death.
The data suggests the city region’s care homes have been hit harder by the virus than those in other parts of the country.
Across England and Wales, coronavirus has been connected to the deaths of almost 20,000 care home residents - a third of all care home deaths between March 2 and June 12.
Sefton was the only Merseyside borough to record fewer deaths than the national average, with coronavirus accounting for a quarter of all care home deaths in the borough.
