AVERAGE DEATHS DOUBLE IN CAVAN AND MONAGHAN

A RECORD number of death notices were posted on RIP.ie last month, with twice as many posted in Cavan and Monaghan than in an average April, new research has found.

Researchers from Maynooth University and the University of Limerick discovered that more death notices were posted on the website in April 2020 for Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Meath, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan than any other month since 2010.

The report, published on RTÉ Brainstorm, showed that the number of death notices posted on RIP.ie last month for the whole of Ireland was the highest on record, but comparable with January 2018 and 2017, when there was a bad flu season.

Ireland follows a global pattern of seeing the highest rates of infectious diseases, like Covid-19, in densely populated areas.

Dublin has correspondingly had the largest number of Covid cases, and the researchers, Gerard McCarthy of Maynooth University and Pádraig MacCarron, UL, found that over 1,200 death notices were posted last month in Dublin, far higher than the monthly average of 690.

The next highest number of postings for April 2020 was Cork at just over 400, again reflecting its large population.

The border counties of Monaghan and Cavan appear to have been the worst affected by Covid19, as the number of postings last month increased by 150% and 120% respectively, compared with the average April.

In the case of Monaghan, there were 80 notices, well above the average of 31 and previous maximum of 50. In Cavan, there were was 125 notices, again far above the average of 54 for April and previous maximum of 86.

Fifteen counties did not show any indications of excess mortality due to Covid.