Coronavirus: the town with most ‘risk’ of dying

The Mayor of Middlesbrough recently ordered all of the town’s parks stay closed, in defiance of the government which wants to keep them open. Andy Preston said people in the town were the most at risk in the country of dying from Covid-19. But why is this?

Dr Paul Williams lost his seat as a Labour MP in last year’s general election and returned to work for the NHS on Teesside.

He believes Middlesbrough’s poverty – it is the poorest council borough in England – is one of the main factors making people more vulnerable to Covid-19.