Levelling up much needed for future health emergencies - The Yorkshire Post says

Northern Exposure details how people in the region suffered significant inequalities compared to their Southern counterparts during the Covid pandemic.

Written by Professor Clare Bambra and Dr Natalie Bennett of Newcastle University and Dr Luke Munford and Sam Khavandi of the University of Manchester, it revealed around 2,500 deaths could have been prevented if levelling up of the North had occurred pre-pandemic.

It also shows that the average Covid mortality rate during the first 13 months of the pandemic was 17 per cent higher in the North - an additional 29.4 more deaths per 100,000 people.

These are very stark figures that should be an eye-opener for anyone who doesn’t feel there is a need to tackle regional inequalities.

While pandemics are rare on these shores, we cannot get complacent as a country. The reason why Covid caused so much pain was because of a lack of preparedness. That has to change. In an increasingly globalised world, it would be foolish to think that another outbreak couldn’t affect Britain.

The findings from the Covid inquiry should be used to prepare a plan for any future public health emergency. Equally, a part of that preparedness is about bridging regional inequalities so that no part of the country is left more exposed than the other.

The economic impact is also explored in Northern Exposure. The North saw a 20 per cent higher rise in unemployment compared to the rest of England. That just serves to highlight that now is not the time to row back on levelling up pledges but rather now is the time to double down on them.