COVID pandemic left northern England with higher death rates and longer lockdowns
People in the north of England were more likely to die from COVID-19, spent longer in lockdown, and were made poorer than the rest of the country, a new report states.
The Northern Health Science Alliance – which includes universities and NHS Trusts – commissioned the study to establish the impact of the pandemic on the region.
Academics used government statistics to show how the North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber compared to the rest of England.
According to the report, roughly half of the increased mortality rate from COVID in the north was explained by “potentially preventable deprivation and worse pre-pandemic health”.
Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “This is an important report and I hope everyone in Westminster and Whitehall will take the time to read it. 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.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham wants greater investment in the north
“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.
“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. We have plans for better jobs, better homes, and London-style public transport, and we need the government to back them.”
The report also made suggestions to improve the system in the north.
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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.
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“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.”
A judo Olympian has said her family is “devastated” after the discovery of body in the search for her missing brother.
Lubjana Piovesana, 28, appealed for help to find her younger sibling, Luis, 26, on Saturday. He had not been seen since the early hours of Friday morning.
A body was found in the River Frome near Napier Road in Eastville, Bristol, at around 6pm today, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Formal identification is yet to take place, the force added.
In a post on Instagram, Ms Piovesana wrote: “Hello everyone, Luis has been found.
“We are completely devastated but he has passed away.
“I am grateful for everyone’s support. And I am so sorry this happened.
“Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone. He will be remembered by us all.”
The post was signed off with a dove emoji.
Luis Piovesana did not have any money or his mobile phone with him when he went missing, police said. Pics: Avon & Somerset Police
Mr Piovesana was last seen at around 3am on Friday at the Eastgate retail park, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from where the body was found.
He had travelled there by taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude’s, a 10-minute drive away.
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The 26-year-old’s family spent the weekend searching for him, and asked people to check their sheds and gardens.
His partner, Laurin Bohler, said loved ones had travelled from Birmingham to help.
Mounted officers and police drones were also involved in the investigation.
Ms Piovesana competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team, and defeated British competitor Lucy Renshall in the women’s -63kg judo event at the Paris Olympics last year.
A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.
Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.
Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.
Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.
While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.
He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
‘Last time on their school run’
During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.
He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.
Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.
Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.
“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.
The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.
“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.
“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”
Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.
He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.
The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.
‘The rock of our family’
In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.
She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.
“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.
“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”
Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.
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Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.
“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.
Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.
In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.
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