Covid rates falling nationally but remain high in parts of Cork

Sarsfield Street in Kilmallock, Co Limerick. The Cappamore-Kilmallock area of Limerick remains in the top ten Covid-19 hotspots in Munster. Picture: Dan Linehan

The Belmullet area of Mayo continues to have the highest Covid infection rate nationally, with one in 50 of the population testing positive for the virus in the past two weeks.

The latest data on Covid infection levels in local electoral areas (LEA) show that the 14-day infection rate in Belmullet has seen a three-fold decrease over the past fortnight, a trend replicated in other parts of the country.

On January 11, the rural area had an infection rate of 6,031 cases per 100,000 population but this has fallen to 2,007.9 infections per 100,000 population as of January 25.

The national average infection rate stood at 721.1 cases per 100,000 population last Monday.

The LEA data also shows that infection rates remain high in some border counties, such as Monaghan, where the entire county continues to have above average rates of infection – in Monaghan town the infection rate is double the national average at 1,762.5 cases per 100,000 population.

Parts of Louth, Wexford, Dublin, and Kildare also feature in the top ten Covid hotspots nationally.

Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim had the lowest infection rate in the country at 211.2 cases per 100,000 population.

The local area data also shows how viral spread has shifted in Munster where infection rates are falling, but they remain high in parts of Cork.

The south and eastern parts of Waterford city have the highest infection rates in Munster (between 1109.3-1241.3 cases per 100,000 population) as of Monday this week, although rates are falling there.

Limerick, however, has seen a significant fall off in cases.

The Adare-Rathkeale area previously had one of the highest infection rates nationally and in Munster but has since turned the situation around.

From a peak rate of 3,118 cases per 100,000 population on January 11 the infection rate has fallen to 707.3 cases per 100,000 population on January 25.

Previously high rates in Limerick city have also more than halved over the past two weeks, while the Cappamore-Kilmallock area of Limerick remains in the top ten Covid-19 hotspots in Munster.

Cork City

Infection rates are also falling across Cork, although some parts of the city remain above the national average – Cork city north west (943.1 cases per 100,000 population), Cork city north east (856.6 cases per 100,000 population) and Cork city South east (825.1 cases per 100,000 population).

Across the five LEA areas of Cork city more than 1,700 cases were detected in the previous fortnight.

Elsewhere in the county, the Bandon-Kinsale area also had a higher than average infection rate at 842.5 cases per 100,000 population after 314 cases were detected in the previous two weeks.

Across the country more than 34,000 new cases were confirmed in the two weeks to January 25, representing a significant fall in cases detected.

The fall has allowed for the testing of close contacts of positive cases to resume from Friday.

There is concern, however, over the number of people requiring hospital treatment and the rising number of deaths from Covid-19, which have exceeded 870 to date this month.

On Friday more than 1,500 people were receiving hospital treatment for the virus, with 211 people in intensive care.