A chara, – Jennifer O’Connell’s exploration of the causes of County Waterford’s relatively low Covid infection level (“The best Covid county in Ireland”, Weekend Review, October 24th) focused almost exclusively on Waterford city, tucked into the eastern end of the county.
In fact, the main contributor to the county’s low infection level has been the remainder of the county, where infection levels have been well below those in the city area.The latest data show, for example, that the Lismore Local Electoral Area (LEA) was one of only two LEAs in the entire country to have an infection rate of fewer than five per 100,000 population (ie, almost no infections).
In the second half of September, Waterford’s three “rural” LEAs (Lismore, Dungarvan and Kilmacthomas) were all in this category, while the three LEAs which make up Waterford city and suburbs had an infection rate close to the national average.
Although infection rates in the rural LEAs have crept up since then, the latest data show their combined infection rate, at 120, is only two-thirds of Waterford city’s, less than half the national average, and only a small fraction of the worst-affected parts of the country.
One wonders what the good-living residents of this part of the Déise did to merit having Level 5 lockdown restrictions imposed upon them. – Is mise,
PROINNSIAS BREATHNACH,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.