Why is coronavirus killing so many more people in the UK than in Ireland?

In March, while the UK delayed, Ireland acted. For many this may prove to have been the difference between life and death.

The choices our governments have made in the last month have profoundly shaped what risks we, as citizens, are exposed to during the course of this pandemic. Those choices have, to a large extent, determined how many of us will die.

At the time of writing, 365 people have died in Ireland of COVID-19 and 11,329 have died in the UK. Adjusted for population, there have been 7.4 deaths in Ireland for every 100,000 people. In the UK, there have been 17 deaths per 100,000. In other words, people are dying of coronavirus in the UK at more than twice the rate they are dying in Ireland.

In her article, Elaine Doyle explores why this might be.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 April 2020