Coronavirus: Why has Barrow-in-Furness been hit so badly? – BBC Newsnight

Areas like Barrow-in-Furness have been suffering considerably during the #Covid19 outbreak. But why?

The North West of England has been particularly hard hit by coronavirus and one such place is the Cumbrian town of Barrow-in-Furness.

Is it the worst affected place in the UK?

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has mentioned its high number of cases at one of his press conferences… But why has it been hit so badly? And what are the underlying factors that have led to so many infections?

James Clayton reports.

#Health #Newsnight #Coronavirus

Newsnight is the BBC's flagship news and current affairs TV programme - with analysis, debate, exclusives, and robust interviews.

[lesleymartin]

What about showing the amount of expensive new houses being built all over Barrow? Obviously not everyone is poor and underprivileged!

[belly]

Typical shitty BBC reporting. Data was per 100k people (only 67k live in barrow) and it was high because barrow was one of the best testing areas in the UK.

[craigstevens]

You do realise you showed an American submarine on the surface don't you? The BBC has loads of clips of British submarines. Was your research so poor? Bit of an insult to the town to show an inferior product and infer they built it!

[Skylark_Jones]

Did they isolate those who tested positive for the virus? Because without contact tracing and isolating testing on it's own is futile.

[chowker]

"You can see that it is not just about the testing regime".

[ouldonaunt]

eight times more testing than the national average and BAE systems just happen to also reside there.
they are probably testing those employees a lot, so more cases are found more often.

[johnthorpe]

People will find it weird for a while then it won't be weird any more, it'll be normal' No it bloody well won't, and if people are stupid enough to blindly accept this nonsense they deserve all they get.

[hosephanerothe]

Tory MP

It does’nt affect the recovery
But it’ll affect kids going back to school and people going back to work ...

What recovery are you aiming for then?

[fixablecell]

You know it hasn’t really been bad it just feels like normal for me but with not as many people

[toppergreen]

Air con recirculating office air in portable cabins, skiers returning from Italy... my guess...

[eclecticcyclist]

Health inequalities? The ones quoted are down to personal lifestyle choice or local culture. The solution is education. Teaching how diet, and to an extent excersise, impacts on health. Look up Dr Aseem Malhotra and The Pioppi Diet. (the one MP Tom Watson is following)

[crazyelaine]

Obesity and hight smokers so wrong. It's only coz we are a small town.

[joebloggs]

2 meter rule is completely irrelevant if supermarkets etc continue to use air conditioning. Save lives, switch it off.

[jilldavey]

I can’t believe this tiny programme. It has shown probably some of the worst bits of barrow, and every town has them. Just because it’s industrial it by no means says it’s a horrible place. It has some of the most lovely countryside, beaches, and areas where people live. This is of course to sway opinion, the people of barrow are not deprived, many have some of the highest levels of disposable income compared to other areas. Absolute rubbish didn’t appreciate that at all!

[kallanarmstrong]

BBC why not talk about the grooming gangs #jsuticeforellie

[JoJo-rxbi]

more importantly, what about the grooming gangs? eh

[billyhuckaby]

Well, maybe one reason this town has alot of cases is nobody you interviewed or taped were wearing a mask. Are these people even followiing the medical guidelines? If they live in row houses, they cant easily avoid their neighbors! In my opinion they should definitely be wearing masks if they venture outdoors, maintain distance and not gather in groups, or schools or indoor restaurants, or gyms or hair salons. Are they washing their hands frequently after touching a possibly contaminated object such as elevator buttons, door handles, money, dry and wet goods, etc.? Are they washing their hands and clothes and taking an immediate shower after returning from an errand? Decontaminating the packages and items brought in from outside with lysol and or bleach? Soaking vegetables and fruits in water with decontamination drops, 2 drops of potassium iodide or one capfull of bleach to 7.58 liters
of water for 20 minutes? Are positive people and their contacts isolating and quarantintining? If not the virus will continue to spread fast throughout the population!

[ssss]

Interesting that the lower the IQ, the higher the impact was.

[trewens]

They could have made the same points in half the time. It's really not a great film.

[justinsingh]

Barrow in Furness, most boring place in the world