Basingstoke's true coronavirus death toll has been revealed as new figures have been published for the first time.

The Office for National Statistics has released the data of deaths by local authority up to May 15.

In that time, 99 people in Basingstoke died after contracting the disease. This includes 21 people who died across the town's network of care homes, 72 deaths in hospital and three living in hospices. 

During the same period 91 people died in Winchester and 89 people died in the Test Valley.  

The ONS has released the data to show where the most and fewest people have been killed by the virus by May 15, when the total of deaths in England and Wales was 41,047.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Birmingham is the local authority nationally with the most amount of Covid-19 fatalities. It has recorded 1,047 deaths up to May 15.

While the national outbreak is believed to be past its peak, there are 18 areas where Covid-19 fatalities still appear to be on the rise.

Local authorities including Ashford in Kent, Broadland in Norfolk, Doncaster, Wrexham and Carlisle, have yet to suffer their darkest days, according to analysis of the data.

Read more: 110 days that changed Basingstoke 

Health secretary Matt Hancock previously confirmed that “local lockdowns” could be imposed on whole towns if there are regional flare-ups.

The chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said there were still 8,000 people testing positive for the disease a day.

In Hampshire, Basingstoke has the highest rate of infections with 405 cases per every 100,000 residents. That is higher than Hampshire’s overall average of 240.6 cases per 100,000 residents.

Reasons being put forward for the town’s higher infection rate is due to the volume of testing available at the hospital.

There are currently 3,311 known coronavirus cases in Hampshire.