Direct impact of COVID-19

Cases and mortality in Staffordshire

• By 19 July 2021, nearly 73,800 people in Staffordshire had tested positive for COVID-19 and over 2,350 people had died.
  
  
• Deaths rates per 100,000 population in Staffordshire are higher, partially due to the older population in the county.
  
  
• Highest case rates were Tamworth and East Staffordshire, with East Staffordshire also experiencing the highest death rates.
  
  
• Severity of the disease varied by age - for Pillar 1 average age was 59 years 5 months and for Pillar 2, 38 years 1 month.

Overview of Cases - Epidemic Curve

Note: During the early stages of the pandemic there was very limited testing capacity. Therefore, data relating to the initial wave of infections in spring 2020 vastly under-represent the actual number of cases.

Understanding excess mortality

Excess deaths is a better measure of the pandemic’s overall impact on mortality. In Staffordshire there were over 1,900 more deaths than the previous five-year average – 73% of COVID-19 related deaths were in hospitals. Care homes have seen the biggest increase in deaths since the start of the outbreak (ONS, 2020).

Confirmed cases of SARS-COV-2 and recorded deaths – March 2020 to July 2021.

Cases to 19 July 2021 / deaths from start of pandemic to 23 July 2021.

To 23 July:

• 2,356 deaths within 28-days of a diagnosis of Covid-19
• 2,723 deaths where Covid-19 had been recorded on the death certificate
• 1,911 more deaths compared to average for previous 5 years

Note:  Measures of Covid-19 deaths are potentially flawed, under-representing deaths where not recorded on the death certificate or over-representing where people die from another cause within 28 days of being confirmed a case.

Cases and mortality – at risk groups

• The pandemic has further highlighted pre-existing health inequalities and in some cases believed to have increased them, influencing exposure and vulnerability to COVID-19.
  
  
• Cases and mortality impact disproportionately on the elderly, partly because they are more rigorously tested – deaths in ages 80+ accounted for 62% of COVID-19 deaths. Also, high case rates are also among young adults.
  
  
• East Staffordshire has experienced both the highest case rates and mortality rates, even after accounting for differences in the age structure of its population.
  
  
• Case rates were seen to be much higher in Black, Asian and Other ethnic minority communities. This could result from factors associated with ethnicity such as occupation, population density, household composition and conditions. Also, pre-existing health conditions that increase the risk of severe infection are more common in BAME groups.
  
  
• Mortality rates among Black African males was 3.8x higher than those of a White background, and for Black African females 2.9x higher. (ONS, 2020)