NEW data on covid-19 related deaths suggests people were dying in Worcestershire earlier than first publicly known.

The figures, which cover the first weeks of the pandemic, have revealed the worst hit areas in Worcestershire to be Wyre Forest and Bromsgrove.

The Office of National Statistics data records weekly deaths from coronavirus, breaking the numbers down into local authority areas, and this first publication includes the total deaths this year up to April 3.

Key points from the data include:

• Up to that date, there were four deaths at care homes - two from Bromsgrove, one from Malvern Hills, and one from Wychavon.

• Worcester had a death at a hospice and another at a communal establishment.

• There was one Wyre Forest death at home.

• And a further two deaths came from Bromsgrove at a setting listed as "other".

In total, up to April 3, there had been 17 deaths from Bromsgrove (13 at hospital) and 17 from Wyre Forest (16 of which were at hospital), while Wychavon had 11, (10 in hospital).

Worcester had five deaths to that point (three hospital). Redditch also had five (all of them at hospital), while Malvern Hills had three (two at hospital).

The first death previously known about came on March 23 when Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust provided its first statement that a patient had died of a covid-19 related death at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital.

But the new Office of National Statistics figures reveal that prior to that announcement, in the week before March 23, there had already been three deaths at hospital settings - one from Bromsgrove, one from Wychavon and another from Wyre Forest.

The Office of National Statistics lists the areas as "places of death", but Worcestershire hospitals trust has confirmed they relate to deaths of residents from the specified areas.

The government told everyone to avoid non essential travel, work from home where possible, and avoid crowded places on March 16, while a week later, March 23, the stricter lockdown measures were introduced.

Peter Pinfield, the chairman of Healthwatch - the body that represents patients in Worcestershire - said: "People have relatives, carers, we all have been impacted by this. At the very least the government should be honest and upfront.

"Until now I don't think we have been getting the true picture, you need to get down to the detail.

“We at Healthwatch have been watching with alarm the steady increase in the hospital numbers.

“If we hadn’t of stopped at home, I shudder to think what the numbers would have been now.”