Covid infection rates were 50% higher in poorest areas of country
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Covid infection rates were more than 50% higher in the poorest areas of Ireland compared to more affluent areas, research by the ESRI and Pobal has found.
The joint-report also found areas in border counties near the North had higher infection rates than in non-deprived areas.
The examination of infection rates and poverty shows: “The average infection rate was over 50% higher in the most deprived areas.
"The average infection rate in the most deprived areas was 5.6% compared to 3.7% in more affluent areas.”
They also found when they controlled for age, communal living including nursing homes and ethnicity; “the most deprived areas had infection rates more than a third higher than more affluent areas”.
The authors, Anne Devlin, Adele Whelan, and Seamus McGuinness, recommended the findings be taken into account when considering the effects of the disease.
“There are important lessons to be learned about health inequalities during a pandemic as well as the impact of other pre-existing inequalities which may impact the prevalence of covid,” they said.
Dr Devlin added: “Infection rates and ICU admission rates were higher in areas with higher shares of minority groups.”
The higher number of infections in general are likely driven by a number of reasons, she said.
These could include: "The jobs people do, reliance on public transport, higher occupancy in homes, and poorer health pre-pandemic.”
These findings have important implications for policy, she said, for a potential future pandemic or any other large health shock.
Pobal CEO Anna Shakespeare said this is more evidence people “who are most marginalised and disadvantaged experience the worst health outcomes”.
The Government has pledged to hold a covid inquiry.
She said this will be “a unique opportunity to take stock and consider pandemic planning for the future”.
At Pobal, she said they believe there is “significant value” in targeted and tailored place-based approaches.
The team, using information from Pobal and Census 2022 throughout, also looked at ICU rates, finding poverty has an indirect impact on these figures.
This is because poverty is often linked to people having more underlying conditions or living in communal set-ups.
A communal setting can also be direct provision centres, prisons, and university housing among others, the report said.
Areas with higher proportions of racial or ethnic minorities can also be affected by poverty.
Information Pobal shared on disadvantage found it is highest in “small pockets within Dublin city centre, the north and west suburbs of Dublin, the outskirts of Cork, Waterford, Limerick and some small rural towns”.
The joint report also recommends further study on the findings around infection rates in the border counties.
They pointed to previous studies saying people saw different health messages coming from Dublin and Belfast with the result that neither was credible.
can be read on the ESRI website.