SOME ethnic minority groups in England saw higher Covid death rates than the rest of the population, a recent report by Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday (3), which also highlighted that just 13 areas in England and one in Wales out of 7,201 total neighbourhoods have seen zero death due to Covid-19.
As per first-of-its-kind ONS analysis by breaking down the fatalities into local neighbourhoods, it emerged that most of the areas with zero death due to Covid were in the southwest of England, including parts of Cornwall, Devon, Bristol city centre and Leeds city centre, while one area of Manchester also recorded zero Covid deaths.
Weston Winterstokein North Somerset, Tamerton Foliot in Plymouth and Eynsham & Stanton Harcourt in West Oxfordshire also did not see any death due to Covid-19.
ONS published data on excess deaths as a whole - which include fatalities from all causes and not just Covid - claiming it as a clear way to compare the likely impact of the pandemic over time.
ONS figures appeared to show a huge urban and rural divide, with inner-city neighbourhoods in London, Essex and Manchester suffering the most excess deaths across the pandemic.
"There were around 200 neighbourhoods where the number of deaths was at least double what would normally have been expected during those five months,” the ONS report said.
Overall, more Covid deaths were reported in the most deprived areas of England and Wales than in the least deprived areas, said ONS, though there were many reasons why certain communities experienced high death rates.
Higher death rates were seen in ethnic minority communities as well as among people with jobs having regular exposure to Covid-19, ONS report said.
In total, the UK has faced 129,881 deaths from the virus since March last year.
Meanwhile, a Covid expert today claimed Britain may now be 'over the hill' in terms of Covid deaths. Infections have been falling for nearly two weeks and hospitalisations — another measure that takes time to catch up — also appear to have peaked.
Jamie Jenkins, former head of health statistics at ONS said cases have been falling since July 19.
"I think looking at the data, we normally see deaths peaking around 14 days after cases come down, I think we might start being over the hill now when it comes to deaths,” Jenkins said with a warning to have “a bit of caution as we go into the autumn period”.
Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in northwest of London, in July 2024. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Crossbow murderer found guilty of raping ex-girlfriend
A 26-YEAR-OLD man who murdered three women in a crossbow and stabbing attack has been found guilty of raping one of them, his ex-girlfriend, a British court ruled on Thursday.
Kyle Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in Bushey, northwest of London, in July 2024.
The attack led to a manhunt before Clifford was found injured hours later in a north London cemetery.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday convicted Clifford of raping 25-year-old Louise Hunt before killing her.
His sentencing for all the crimes is scheduled for Tuesday.
Clifford had admitted to murdering Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Louise and Hannah, 28. He had also pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and possessing offensive weapons but denied raping Louise.
During the trial, the court heard that after killing Carol Hunt, Clifford waited for an hour before attacking Louise, tying her up, raping her, and then killing her with a crossbow. He later killed Hannah when she returned home from work.
The prosecution described Clifford, a former soldier, as committing a "violent, sexual act of spite" and said he was "enraged" after Louise ended their 18-month relationship. They told the court that he had "carefully planned" the attack.
Less than 24 hours before the killings, Clifford had searched for a podcast by social media influencer Andrew Tate, according to the prosecution. They argued that the murders were driven by the "violent misogyny promoted" by Tate.
Justice Joel Bennathan called Clifford’s crimes "dreadful" and "almost unspeakable".
(With inputs from AFP)