More deaths, longer lockdowns and lower wages in northern England’s pandemic, figures show

‘Long-standing neglect of communities’ across north left communities more exposed to pandemic, reports Joe Middleton

Members of the public walk past shops in Kendal in Cumbria, north-west England (AFP via Getty Images)

People in the north of England were more likely to die from Covid-19, were made poorer during the first year of pandemic and spent an additional six weeks in lockdowns, new analysis has revealed.

Researchers analysed government statistics to see how areas in the northeast, northwest, Yorkshire and Humber compared to the rest of the country.

The results showed that northerners had a higher mortality rate (17 per cent) due to Covid-19 than the rest of the country and a 14 per cent higher overall mortality due to all causes.

The North’s care home Covid-19 mortality was also 26 per cent higher than the rest of England and 10 per cent more hospital beds were occupied by Covid patients than in the rest of England.

The report, commissioned by the Northern Science Alliance, also found that wages in the North, which were lower than the rest of the country before the pandemic, then fell even further.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham – who in October last year said that the region was “struggling” more than others during the pandemic – told The Independent the government must now tackle the issues that “left the North vulnerable to the pandemic”.

He said: “The long-standing neglect of communities across the North left them more exposed to the pandemic, and those deep-seated inequalities have only got worse over the past 18 months.

“Now that the worst of the pandemic is hopefully behind us, the government needs to recognise the toll Covid has taken here – especially when it comes to its levelling up plans. We are ready to work in partnership with them to make levelling up a reality, but they now need to turn their words into action.”

He added: “When ministers come to Manchester for their conference next month they need to demonstrate how they are going to tackle the issues that left the North so vulnerable to the pandemic.”

Academics concluded that much of the increased mortality rate could be explained by higher deprivation levels and worse pre-pandemic health outcomes in the North.

The research also showed that northerners on average had 41 more days of the toughest lockdown restrictions.

And they had higher rates of antidepressant prescriptions, as well as a larger drop in mental well-being and higher levels of loneliness.

Dr Luke Munford, a lecturer in health economics at Manchester University, said: "The pandemic has hit us all hard in different ways, but our report shows that people living in the North were much more likely to be hardest hit, both in terms of health and wealth.

"The fact that over half of the increased Covid-19 mortality and two-thirds of all-cause mortality was potentially preventable should be a real wake-up call.

"We need to invest in the health of people living in the North to ensure they are able to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic."

Clare Bambra, professor of public health at Newcastle University, said: "Our report shows how regional health inequalities before Covid have resulted in an unequal pandemic, with higher rates of ill health, death and despair in the North.

"The economic impact of the lockdown is also looking likely to exacerbate the regional economic divide.

"The government's levelling up agenda needs to seriously address health inequalities in the North, for all generations."

The report authors called for the government to boost funding to Northern hospitals to allow them to catch up, including on non-Covid care.

Prof Bambra said: "The levelling up agenda needs to be centred on health, it cannot just be about trains and bridges."

She said there was an element of good news from the North as the report, which looked at March 2020 to March 2021, showed a higher percentage of people had been vaccinated in the North than elsewhere.