England's poorest communities were hit by a "perfect storm" of wage, housing and test-and-trace issues that led to high coronavirus rates, leaked government analysis reportedly finds.
The report by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) concluded people in poorer areas were less likely to self-isolate due to being unable to afford losing income.
The study also found that in Blackburn-with-Darwen and Leicester, areas badly affected by the pandemic, more people had been rejected than accepted when they sought financial help to self-isolate, increasing the likelihood they could not follow self-isolation rules.
The JBC, which was established in May last year, aims to provide "evidence-based, objective analysis" to inform official decision-making