North inequalities cost UK economy £7.3bn over first year of the pandemic

COVID-19 has had a major impact on everyone’s lives across the UK. However, a new report has found that northerners were affected more severely by the pandemic. People in the North were more likely to die from COVID-19, spent nearly a month and-a-half more in lockdowns, suffered worse mental health and were made poorer than the rest of England during the first year of the pandemic.