Kildare has fourth highest rate of recorded virus infection

Although County Kildare is in second place in raw numbers of confirmed infections of Covid-19, behind Dublin, the county is actually in fourth place in terms of cases as a percentage of population, writes Brian Byrne.

An analysis of the most recent figures from the Department of Health against the Census 2016 returns for population of the counties of the republic shows that the highest rate of recorded infection is currently in Cavan with 0.82pc. That county is followed by Dublin (0.71pc), Monaghan (0.63pc) and Kildare (0.52pc).

In all, ten of the 26 counties have recorded above the average 0.32pc rate of recorded infection. As well as the four above, they include Westmeath, Louth, Wicklow, Mayo, Longford and Meath.

The five counties with the least rate of recorded infections are Wexford (0.11pc), Waterford (0.12pc), Galway (0.13pc), Carlow (0.16pc) and Sligo (0.19pc).

There's an interesting, if not unexpected correlation, in that the ten counties with the highest rates of recorded infections are also the ten with the highest population densities.

A Caveat: My analysis does not take into account any disparity in testing rates for coronavirus in the different counties, so the figures cannot be taken as absolute. But they do give food for thought.

For the same reason, the percentage figures may not necessarily be a true reflection of the actual penetration of the virus in the population. Again, though, worth consideration.


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