© RMV/Rex/Shutterstock‘By the end of May, England had seen the highest overall relative excess mortality out of all the European countries compared.’
Data analysis released by the Office for National Statistics showed that, while England did not have the highest peak mortality, it did have the longest continuous period of excess mortality.
It is the first time the ONS has compared mortality rates in different countries to measure the impact of the pandemic.
The data - which allows comparisons between 29 European countries and treats the four nations of the UK separately - shows that the cumulative death rate at the end of May (week 22) put England above Spain as the worst-affected country among those analysed.
Scotland was the third worst-affected country, followed by Belgium and Wales. Northern Ireland was eighth, having fared better than Sweden or the Netherlands by the end of May.
Comment: Notably those countries with the highest excess death rate also implemented the harshest lockdown measures: New abnormal: Wales bans phone calls and reading on public transport over 'coronavirus concerns'
Excess mortality is the number of deaths above what would be expected in a normal year based on the five-year average from 2015-19 and encompasses all deaths, including those from Covid-19.
© Office for National Statistics (England & Wales), Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, National Records of ScotlandGuardian graphic
Among the larger European cities, the highest excess death rate was observed in Madrid, which was 433% higher than average in the week to 27 March.
In the UK, Birmingham had the highest excess mortality in any one week, at 250% above average in the week to 17 April, followed by London and Manchester, which were 227% and 198% above average in the same week.
The ONS's analysis of Eurostat's raw data shows cities such as Rome in Italy and Cádiz in southern Spain had negligible increases in mortality during the pandemic, in contrast to the UK, where virtually every area of the country experienced excess deaths.
The figures show that the excess death toll in Spain was even deeper than indicated in previously published data.
According to the Eurostat figures, Spain recorded an estimated 20,623 deaths in the week to 3 April, compared with an average of 8,118 deaths in the previous five years, two and a half times the average number of deaths.
© EurostatGuardian graphic
Bergamo, in northern Italy, had the highest peak excess mortality, 848%, in the week ending 20 March.
The highest excess death rate experienced in the UK regional breakdown was in Brent, north-west London, which experienced an excess of 358% in the week ending 17 April.
Edward Morgan, a health analysis and life events demographer at the ONS, said that while none of the four UK nations had a peak mortality level as high as Spain, or local alreas as badly hit as those in Spain and Italy, "excess mortality was geographically widespread throughout the UK during the pandemic, whereas it was more geographically localised in most countries of western Europe".
"Combined with the relatively slow downward 'tail' of the pandemic in the UK, this meant that by the end of May, England had seen the highest overall relative excess mortality out of all the European countries compared," Morgan said.
Responding to the data, Dr Veena Raleigh, a senior fellow at the King's Fund thinktank, said the "unequal impact" of the virus on older people, ethnic minorities, and those living in more deprived areas exposed "yet again the wide and widening health divide in our population".
"The priority for the UK is to control the pandemic and learn lessons ahead of a potential second wave, but it is also essential to tackle the underlying reasons for stalling life expectancy in recent years - many of which contribute to poor Covid-19 outcomes."
The shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, described the data on England having the highest level of excess deaths in Europe as "a devastating moment".Confirmed deaths of Covid-19 for selected countries
Showing the number of deaths since the day of the first one, using a log scale. Data correct at 23.59 UTC 29 JulyCSSE Note: The CSSE states that its numbers rely upon publicly available data from multiple sources, which do not always agree© Source: Johns Hopkins
"Every life lost is a tragedy and leaves behind grieving families. We can no longer hide from the fact the government has not handled this crisis well and needs to urgently learn lessons from its mistakes.
"Boris Johnson must now take responsibility for why we were so badly prepared. As we start to see a resurgence in other parts of the world, ministers need to urgently outline the steps they are taking to better protect people and save lives in the months ahead."
Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, also called for the prime minister to take personal responsibility, describing the findings as "devastating news".
The Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, Munira Wilson, said it was clear that the government had made mistakes, and called for an immediate independent inquiry. "The unforgiving consequences of the pandemic have left too many families mourning loved ones. It didn't need to be like this."
So letting people die would seem to be the justifiable cost of protecting the NHS, come on, the hospitals are empty and always have been since the beginning of this fiasco, they are still not allowed to stand down the covid wards/labs and all preparations they have made since March 2020, sitting empty, waiting for what? This is the real scandal that needs to be exposed, the order to sustain this has been given from beyond the NHS's director level, while they and department heads are threatened with the sack and the loss of their NHS pensions as a result if anyone speaks out. I sincerely hope they grow a conscience soon and realise they are the main kingpin holding this tragic situation together.
Another ongoing and developing farce is the temporary hospitals are now being used to address the backlog of normal health issues, it's a joke. Why didn't they setup the temporary hospitals for the covid and keep the proper NHS facilities to continually treat the greater majority? The lockdown measures have caused most of these excess deaths and they know it. The government did not want to compare the excess death figures with other countries at the time and this is why, no need for bad publicity back then but it's ok now while the public are still like rabbits caught in the headlights wearing masks, the absurd conflicting rules, distancing and guidance. It's all baloney, a smoke screen to hide the fact they are dismantling the country, the economy and the social fabric of our lives.
Is the NHS being prepared to be sold off covertly and how would we know if it was?
This current direction we are headed is useless and I'm not going to blame the political puppets for being a bunch of gutless and spineless idiots, these decisions are being made by the privy council which is the real government in the UK, the privy council are a snide and ruthless bunch of psychopaths. Maybe they want the system to fail and have a ready made solution just waiting to be unleashed (reset?)
The system no longer serves it's purpose, it never has and it was never meant to, it's only giving the illusion of choice to the people, this is the scam most of us live under. All MP's are required swear allegiance to the Crown (a company, not the monarchy) not to the people who think they voted for the various puppets and put them into parliament/power. This democratic system was devised to prevent revolutions by the people, it's the same story book throughout history, just various different covers (political parties, concepts and movements) MP's are performers in the circus of Westminster, they are clowns who are well paid to keep quiet and toe the party line, the happy people who certainly do not serve the people, so there's no point in expecting the politicians to sort this mess out as they allowed it to happen.
This type of Democracy is just a covert dictatorship, plain & simple.