Sussex areas among those worst-hit by coronavirus second wave

Hastings, Rother, Eastbourne and Arun have all recorded far more deaths in 2021 than they did during the early weeks of the pandemic, data from the Office For National Statistics shows.

The greatest increase was recorded in Hastings where there have been 1,833.33 per cent more deaths since January 2 this year than there were between March 28 and April 24 in 2020.

Eastbourne

There were six deaths in the town during the first period, compared to 116 in the 2021 figures.

Hastings, along with Rother, was among one of the first areas to be placed in Tier 4, during the gap between the second and third national lockdowns.

• READ MORE: Hastings hairdresser continued carrying out home visits despite being told to self-isolate after testing positive for coronavirus

They were placed under the new restrictions, which included barring the mixing of households at Christmas, on December 19 after cases soared in the area. It is believed this is linked to the rapid spread of the more transmissible Kent variation of Covid-19 in the South East late last year.

Of the 13 local authority areas in Sussex, all but two recorded an increase. Horsham recorded the same number of deaths during both time periods (51) while the death toll dropped by 22.68 per cent in Mid Sussex, from 97 to 75.

hastings seafront file pic taken from east hill cliff .hastings pier after restoration - hastings beach looking west to st leonards , bexhill and distance eastbourne (left of pic).

Here are the figures for all local authority areas in Sussex, comparing the number of Covid-19 deaths recorded so far in 2021 to the number of deaths confirmed between March 28 and April 24 in 2020.

From left to right it reads: name of local authority; number of deaths between March 28 and April 24 in 2020; number of deaths recorded so far in 2021; percentage increase:

• Hastings: 6, 116, 1,833.33 per cent.
• Rother: 19, 147, 673.68 per cent
• Arun: 31, 159, 412.9 per cent
• Eastbourne: 32, 157, 390.63
• Chichester: 39, 116, 197.44
• Wealden: 55, 159, 189.09
• Lewes: 51, 91, 78.43 per cent
• Worthing: 39, 68, 74.36 per cent
• Brighton and Hove: 82, 134, 63.41 per cent
• Crawley: 46, 68, 47.83 per cent
• Adur: 21, 30, 42.86 per cent
• Horsham: 51, 51 per cent
• Mid Sussex: 97, 75, -22.68 per cent

Hastings, Rother, Eastbourne and Arun recorded the first, third, fifth and seventh greatest increases respectively of all local authority areas in England and Wales, when looking at the number of deaths recorded during the first and second waves of coronavirus, a MailOnline investigation found.

"Of the 56 local authorities where Covid deaths in the second wave were at least double that in the first, 15 were in the South East and 16 were in the East," the publication reported.