A SOUTH Essex area has seen one of the highest Covid death tolls in the country, new figures have shown.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows Chalkwell is among the top 10 areas in England to see the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths.

It had seen 50 fatalities by the end of January – the joint seventh highest total in the country.

Shockingly, more than half of that total (26) were recorded in January this year, when Essex bore the brunt of the second wave of infections.

These are the areas in England which have seen the highest number of Covid deaths since the start of the pandemic:

• Crabtree & Fir Vale, Sheffield - 72

• West St Leonards, Hastings - 62

• Hadleigh, Babergh - 57

• Tonyrefail West, Rhondda - 55

• Friern Barnet, Barnet - 54

• Haywards Heath West, Mid Sussex - 54

• Ilkley & Ben Rhydding, Bradford - 50

• Chalkwell, Southend-on-Sea - 50

• Sutton & Crosshills, Craven - 50

• Sandfields, Neath Port Talbot - 50

The latest Government figures show there have now been 122,070 Covid deaths in the UK since last March.

It comes as The UK’s Covid-19 alert level was lowered as the country’s top medics said the threat of the NHS being overwhelmed has receded.

The Level 5 alert was announced on January 4 as lockdown measures were introduced by Boris Johnson amid fears the health service could be swamped within 21 days.

The decision to reduce the alert to Level 4 has now been made by the UK’s four chief medical officers and NHS England’s medical director because the number of cases in hospital are “consistently declining”.

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England’s Professor Chris Whitty, Northern Ireland’s Dr Michael McBride, Scotland’s Dr Gregor Smith, Wales’s Dr Frank Atherton and NHS England’s Professor Stephen Powis announced the decision on Thursday following advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre.

They said health services across the four nations “remain under significant pressure with a high number of patients in hospital”, but thanks to the efforts of the public numbers are now “consistently declining, and the threat of the NHS and other health services being overwhelmed within 21 days has receded”.

They added: “We should be under no illusions – transmission rates, hospital pressures and deaths are still very high.

“In time, the vaccines will have a major impact and we encourage everyone to get vaccinated when they receive the offer.

“However for the time being it is really important that we all – vaccinated or not – remain vigilant and continue to follow the guidelines.”