Covid rates were a third higher in deprived areas – ESRI

A new report has found that Covid-19 infection rates were more than a third higher in the most deprived areas of Ireland, relative to more affluent areas.

Overcrowding, reduced access to private sanitation facilities, jobs not suitable for remote working, and a reliance on public transport all facilitated the spread and transmission of the virus, putting already disadvantaged communities at heightened health risk.

The study from the Economic and Social Research Institute said that areas with communal establishments, and areas with higher shares of residents who are Irish Travellers also had higher Covid-19 infection rates.

Communal establishments included nursing homes, direct provision centres, or anywhere where there is a congregated living environment.

Area-level deprivation did not directly relate to ICU admission rates.

However, areas with communal establishments, with higher shares of some racial and ethnic minority groups, and areas with poorer health among the infected, all had higher rates of ICU admission.

The report was commissioned by Pobal, which supports communities and local agencies to achieve social inclusion and development.

The authors recommend that future pandemic planning should consider pre-existing spatial inequalities and pre-existing health inequalities, and the relationship between the two, especially amongst minority groups.

These locations may require additional health resources and a tailored public health strategy which considers risk factors such as age and the presence of underlying conditions.

Since the start of the pandemic, over 1.7 million people in Ireland have contracted Covid-19.