Time to admit this virus affects some more than others.

Those with learning disabilities are six times more likely to die from the virus.

All in different boats indeed - some in luxury yachts, others in leaking canoes!

Of course, there's an element of chance too and nobody is certain of their level of risk or likely outcome - until it's too late. I'm really sick of hearing the (overconfident) self-proclaimed 'super fit' saying they'd only have a mild illness.

I don’t think anything this government does to help people during this pandemic will ever be good enough for some.
Helping working people is costing billions, but the government are doing it ( quite rightly).
Of course it’s a better life if you have space and money ( isn’t it always, at any time) but since March, it didn’t prevent you catching Covid, and yes....dying as well.

Actually it does effect you dying lemon the research shows- Women in the most deprived areas are 133% more likely to die from COVID-19 than those in the least deprived areas. For men this difference is smaller.

The figures for people with learning disabilities in terms of premature death are awful without covid thrown into the mix.

Over the years lack of being able to see a GP and if necessary getting a hospital appointment has and still does affect some more than others. This has an affect both mental and physical on health which in turn is not helping the health of some areas of the country during the current stressful times.

lemongrove

I don’t think anything this government does to help people during this pandemic will ever be good enough for some.
Helping working people is costing billions, but the government are doing it ( quite rightly).
Of course it’s a better life if you have space and money ( isn’t it always, at any time) but since March, it didn’t prevent you catching Covid, and yes....dying as well.

That’s because nothing they do will be good enough - well spotted .

The effect of inequalities on infection rate is certainly very obvious, surely everyone must realise that poor diet, certain working conditions and over crowding contribute to the chances of catching covid19 in the first place and subsequently recovery from it. I live in an area with very few recorded cases , so it is noticeable when the local news announces an outbreak of covid19; it is always at a meat processing facility or similar. It is clear that the people working there are minimum wages in an area of relatively high housing costs so are likely to be overcrowded. Add this on to car sharing in an area with poor public transport, working in chilled conditions, people who cannot afford to self isolate if they suspect they are infected and you have the perfect recipe for covid19. So, no, we are not all in this together.

trisher you misunderstood my post....I was saying that having money and space didn’t prevent you from catching Covid...and yes, dying.

Yes Gill infection rates ( meat packing places etc) but being mainly a younger workforce, they are unlikely to die.
Of course crowded houses/lodgings is going to affect infection rates.But....we can all be in this together as much as possible.They can wear masks, wash hands, we all have to do what we can, including those who work for minimum wages.

What's to admit? common knowledge and common sense that it would anyway!!

As far as healthy eating goes, a banana is far cheaper than a packet of crisps or a chocolate bar so it's not finances that determine why you eat.

Since Covid is more life threatening to the BAME community, should we be making a case for those people to be first in the queue for the vaccine?

lemongrove

trisher you misunderstood my post....I was saying that having money and space didn’t prevent you from catching Covid...and yes, dying.

But you misunderstand what is happenng lemon if you are poor and catch Covid you are less lkely to die than if you are better off. Poor women in particular are more likely to die. If you read the link I put at the start of this you are also less likely to suffer long term complications than people from deprived backgrounds. So money and space certainly benefit you. The consequences are worse for some people.

Sorry just re read that and it should of course be more likely to die if you are poor. Less likely if you are affluent.

Trisher you are absolutely right. No one can possibly argue the point.

It's likely that inequality will increase exponentially, now that so much has been spent and the economy takes a nosedive. It's always the poor that take the greatest hit, after all.

Absolutely right Hetty58 add to that the fact that the areas under Tier 3 restrictions include most of the poorest areas in the UK and you have a format for yet more and wider inequality. "The rich get rich and the poor get poorer"!

And let’s remember that long Covid is a reality for some. One of our daughters is entering week 9. She is 40y with no underlying conditions too. It was a so-called ‘mild dose’. Her husband got it at the same time and he went back to work after a total of 3 weeks.

This virus can be very nasty indeed.
Keep safe everyone that’s the main thing.

Education inequality is another issue. Secondary school attendance is now down to about 80% and a few schools have had to close completely due to a shortage of staff. They are mainly in more deprived areas.

Only 20% of the promised laptops and wifi hubs have been delivered and the catch-up programme hasn't really taken off. Children in deprived families are less likely to have a decent tablet or laptop at home and are also less likely to have space where they can do schoolwork.

My brother has long Covid. He's had Covid, a bad dose, in March.

A long standing GN member has it.

growstuff my friend who is a school governor is desperately worried about this. She says the children in the schools in really deprived areas are missing so much and continue to be sent home for longer periods. My GCs who live in a much more affluent area haven't been sent home at all, but the school is vigilant about coughs and asks parents to keep any child who has one at home, which they do because many of them are working from home anyway.. I thnk the long term effects on those children's education will be huge.

I agree with your friend - so do the teaching unions. It's a double whammy because the children in deprived areas are likely to be surrounded by more infection, so are more likely to be infected and lose education. Some reasonable online resources have now been developed for secondary pupils, but they're no good if pupils can't access them. A surprising number of children only access the internet on phones, which aren't adequate for online learning.

In our rural area it is children who are using the school buses who are having to isolate more. Can't imagine which group this affects most.

Now, I was never a fan of Corbyn but his policy of wanting everyone in the country to have internet access doesn’t look so daft now, does it.

Galaxy I bet there are a few of the better off families taking their kids to school by car to keep them safe.