On 17th June, The Press and Journal published an article that highlighted an important fact related to Woodside. The figures revealed that the Coronavirus death toll is connected to the level of poverty. Woodside has suffered the highest number of Covid-19 deaths per head of population in the North East. The breakdown reveals that 17 people have lost their lives in Woodside, in a population of 3,989 – which is the 17th highest death rate in the country.
Volunteers from the Fersands and Fountain Community Project (FFCP) are providing help for Woodside residents during lockdown and keeping in touch with vulnerable families and people in the area. Staff and volunteers from Printfield Community project are providing food parcels and support to local families during the lockdown. So, what went wrong?
“We are all in this Together” does not appear to apply as the results shows. According to the National Records of Scotland “People in the most deprived areas were 2.1 times more likely to die with COVID than those living in the least deprived areas.” Looking at deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), the rate for the least deprived area was 25.3 deaths per 100,000 population and the rate in the most deprived area was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 population; this is 118% higher than the least deprived area.
As a Woodsider, it is shocking and scary for me to read these figures. This certainly did not make the weekly trip to the supermarket any easier. It also made me reluctant to rush into any activity related to easing of the lock down. I am even more appreciative of the efforts of the volunteers and community projects staff in the area. As a resident, I would like to know the short-term and long-term plans to address this inequality and to protect the residence who have been disproportionately affected? Would this change our locality priorities? Should we do another survey in the light of this new information?