Hundreds of people in Herefordshire have died from coronavirus since the pandemic reached the UK around two years ago.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in Herefordshire 415 deaths involving Covid-19 had been provisionally registered up to March 12.

Of these, 247 were in hospitals and 130 in care homes, while 26 occurred in private homes and 10 in hospices.

There were also two deaths elsewhere.

It means deaths outside hospital settings accounted for 40 per cent of the overall toll.

The figures include deaths that occurred up to March 4 which were registered up to eight days later.

ONS data is based on where Covid-19 is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate.

The latest figures from the Government show in Herefordshire, which has a population of around 193,000, 47,737 positive tests had been reported.

The deadliest week of the pandemic so far came in the seven days to January 29, 2021, when 26 people lost their lives in Herefordshire.

The deaths in the area were among 18,961 registered across the West Midlands up to March 12, and 159,419 across England.

Separate figures from the UK coronavirus daily dashboard reveal the rate of deaths in Herefordshire within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test – a different measure than that used by the ONS.

On March 16, the cumulative death rate – which covers the entire pandemic – stood at 180.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the area – compared to 251.1 across England.

The Health Foundation said there have been notably higher excess deaths in the UK over the pandemic compared to the rest of Europe, with some communities particularly hard hit.

Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of the charity, said: "Working age adults in the poorest parts of the country were almost four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than those in the wealthiest areas.

"We owe it to those who lost their lives and their families to understand why, and how to build greater resilience against future threats to our health.

"This means sudden threats like Covid-19 as well as slow burn threats like increasing obesity and mental health conditions."

New data from the ONS shows that Great Britain's avoidable mortality rate in 2020 – the first year of the pandemic – was the highest since 2010.

These are typically deaths among people aged below 75 from causes that are considered avoidable given timely and effective healthcare, or public health interventions.

However, the latest avoidable mortality counts also include deaths due to Covid-19.

Local authority figures, which span a three-year period, show that in Herefordshire, 1,205 deaths were considered avoidable between 2018 and 2020 – a rate of 200.4 per 100,000 people.

This was up from 199.1 between 2017 and 2019.