Covid-19-related illnesses have claimed the lives of more men than women across every district in Kent bar one, official figures just released show.

New Office for National Statistics data reveals 941 men in Kent and Medway died as a result of the coronavirus between March 1 and July 31, compared with 731 women.

Outside of Medway , where 101 and 97 deaths were recorded respectively, Ashford took the inglorious top slot with 95 fatalities in men and 76 in women.

Thanet was close behind with 91 men and 69 women losing their lives over the same period, followed by Folkestone and Hythe with 88 and 57 respectively.

The lowest death rate for men was recorded in Tunbridge Wells at 37 - the only district where more women died as a result of coronavirus, claiming 44 female lives.

Tonbridge and Malling saw the lowest death rates recorded among women with 29 losing their lives as a result of the pandemic.

Between March 1 and July 31 there were 51,831 deaths in England and Wales that involved the coronavirus which represented 20% of all 259,199 deaths over this period.

Vaccine trials are expected to start in autumn and almost 6,000 people across Kent have so far signed up to take part.

Only two areas recorded more than 20 deaths involving Covid-19 in July: Leicester with 24 (10.0 deaths per 100,000 population) and Ashford with 21 (16.2 deaths per 100,000 population). The figures include all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, whether or not it was the underlying cause.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) differ from those produced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the UK's public health agencies for two main reasons: the time between death and reporting of the death and the ONS’s wider inclusion criteria.

Over the five-month period, the English region with the highest number of deaths occurring from all causes was the South East with 39,154 deaths; of these, 7,321 involved Covid-19 (18.7% of deaths). The lowest number of deaths was in the North East with 13,507, of which 2,826 involved Covid-19 (20.9% of deaths).

There was a spike in Covid-19 related deaths across all regions in April.

The graphic below indicates deaths involving coronavirus across local authorities in England and Wales between March and July.

Of the 336 local areas in England and Wales, 71 had no deaths involving Covid-19 in July (as registered by August 15) and a further 239 recorded fewer than 10 deaths involving Covid-19. Such small numbers mean that age-standardised mortality rates could not be calculated for these areas.

Ashford recorded 21 deaths in July 2020; this was lower than the numbers of deaths in April, May and June (53, 47 and 47 deaths respectively). The rate in July was 16.2 deaths per 100,000 population, statistically significantly lower than April, May and June. There were only three deaths registered in March.

The ONS has mapped out deaths according to what it classifies as Super Output Areas (SOAs) - small-area statistical geographies. Each area has a similarly sized population.

This interactive map allows you to see the cumulative number of monthly deaths involving Covid-19 in each area.

The highest age-standardised mortality rate involving the coronavirus was seen in urban major conurbations, with 132.8 deaths per 100,000 population. This was statistically significantly higher than all other categories and also shows the coronavirus has had a proportionally higher impact on the most deprived areas.

The next two highest rates were witnessed in urban minor conurbations, with 110.6 deaths per 100,000 population, and urban cities and towns with 84.4 deaths per 100,000 population.

Rural hamlets, sparse settings and isolated dwellings recorded the lowest rates at 24.4 deaths per 100,000.

For the latest coronavirus news and advice, click here .

Read more: All the latest news from Kent