I must say I’m concerned about some of the things being said about disadvantaged communities and #covid19.

Let’s not tarnish whole communities by saying they are not taking personal responsibility.

A thread

2) I know many who live in very crowded and very disadvantaged situations who are trying hard to do the right thing.

Also the data is mixed between disadvantaged and better off communities.

3) Some of the biggest disadvantage is in the North Inner City. 14 day ave. there was 97.5 per ‘000,000 of pop. (to 14.09) below the Dublin average of 120.9 (as of 17.09).

If we look at the rest of the covid case data (latest available fortnight ending 03.09), we see that:

4) With regard to clusters, see breakdown by median household income.

While over a quarter are in households with median income €30k to €40k, it doesn’t suggest a concentration in the very lowest income households.

But the contrast with high income households is stark.

5) In terms of overall cases, there is even less of a concentration in the lowest income households. 51% are in households that have €40k to €60 household income.

6) Added to all this, its important to note that the cases are not confined to areas where there is a very high dependence on working age social welfare payments eg dole or disability or carers.

7) Within the number of overall cases in the country- just 27% are in areas where there are one fifth or more of households reliant on working age social welfare supports for the majority of their income.

Why am I saying all this? Let's not create an additional stigma around disadvantaged areas. Overcrowded accommodation, greater probability of not being able to work from home and poorer self care is only part of the covid 19 story across Dublin.

Data source: CSO Covid 19 Series 11