North West hospital bosses warn poverty will continue to drive up coronavirus infections if no action
Figures show the region has DOUBLE the amount of Covid patients per 100,000 adults compared to anywhere else in the country.
There are fresh concerns deprivation and poverty is continuing to add to the region's growing coronavirus pressures.
Hospital bosses in the region have released figures showing the North West has DOUBLE the amount of Covid patients per 100,000 adults compared to anywhere else in the country.
Kate Ardern, health lead for Wigan and the whole of Greater Manchester, said without urgent action it'll continue to get worse: "I think for us it's very much around the quality of housing, the general poor health status of people in the North West of England. Certainly where you've had a lot of long term conditions, particularly respiratory conditions, cardiovascular conditions, you link that with higher rates of smoking, obesity, all of those kind of risk factors.
"What covid has done has really just brought to the fore those structural inequalities we have in the whole of the North of England. If you look at the heat map, even today, we're still seeing those same parts of the country significantly affected.
"Much more of the northern economy is dependent on people doing front-facing jobs, that occupational exposure has been much higher in the North West because of the nature of our job market."