1,392 new cases of Covid reported with 73 in ICU

Athlone had the lowest 14-day rate incidence rate in the country up to Monday. File Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins 

A further 1,392 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed today, with 288 patients with the virus being treated in Irish hospitals.

73 patients are being treated in intensive care units across the country. 

The figures come as Taoiseach shared that Ireland now has the highest uptake of vaccination (full or both doses) anywhere in the EU, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Micheál Martin commended the "huge effort by the public, and everyone involved in our #CovidVaccine rollout" as he shared the news on Twitter.

According to the latest data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSPC's) Covid-19 data hub, in the two weeks leading up to Monday, September 13, local electoral areas (LEAs) in Monaghan and Donegal once again had the highest incidence rates in the country.

Monaghan town registered an incidence rate of over 1,255.8 - more than three times the national average. A further 285 cases were confirmed in the LEA during this time.

The country’s second-highest rate was also in Monaghan. Carrickmacross-Castleblaney saw an incidence rate of 1133.6 per 100,000 population, with 243 further cases reported.

Milford in Donegal registered the country's third-highest incidence rate at 1074.7 per 100,000 population. Some 148 new cases were identified in Milford up to last Monday.

Monaghan had the highest 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 over the past two weeks. Source: HPSC Covid-19 data hub

The electoral areas of Ballybay-Clones (Monaghan), Lifford-Stranorlar (Donegal), and Buncrana (Donegal) saw incidence rates of 1014.2, 957.9, 925.5 - the fourth, fifth, and sixth-highest rates in the country, respectively.

The only two LEAs not in Monaghan and Donegal to feature in the top ten were Manorhamilton in Leitrim, which recorded a rate of 868.7, and Boyle in Roscommon, which recorded a rate of 755.8.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Athlone had the lowest 14-day rate in the country with an average of 119 cases per 100,000 population.

The second-lowest rate was found in Lismore in Waterford (139.9), while the third lowest was Newport in Tipperary (152.9)

Skibbereen and Mallow have highest incidence rates in Cork 

Two local electoral areas (LEAs) in Cork had a 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 above the national average over the past two weeks. 

In the two weeks leading up to Monday, September 13, Skibbereen had a case incidence rate of 531.7 per 100,000 - the highest in the county. 118 new positive cases were identified in Skibbereen during this period.

The next highest incidence rate in Cork was in Mallow at 487 per 100,000 population, where 142 new cases were confirmed over this two-week period. 

From August 30 to September 13, the national 14-day incidence rate stood at an average of 413.2.

Over the same period, Cork City North East 381.8 per 100,000, the third-highest rate in the county, but still lower than the national average.

With an incidence rate of just 187.1 per 100,000, Midleton had the lowest rate in the county.