Opinion: does anthropology hold the answer to why the Kingdom has seen fewer infections than elsewhere in the country?
There is a widely-held view that Covid-19 never got a hold in Kerry. Despite the country being one of the most popular choices for staycations, the current surge in community transmission is not reflected in infection rates. 362 cases were listed in the county on September 18th, 1.1% of all infections in the state, which put Kerry in 23rd place in terms of cases, even though it is the 10th largest county by population.
Perhaps early anthropology has the answer to why this is so and especially research that used blood type to analyse racial variation in Irish populations. This is relevant to Covid-19 because current research shows that blood type influences infection rates and outcomes which connects with other studies into the relationship between ethnicity and Covid-19.
Read the full article here on RTE Brainstorm: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0928/1168032-kerry-covid-19-infections-blood-type-anthropology/