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The number of Covid-19 hotspots across the country has grown since last week, and about 40% of local areas have infection rates above the national average.
The latest data from the Local Electoral Area (LEA) shows that the 14-day national infection rate has risen from 88 cases per 100,000 residents last week to 116 cases per 100,000 residents this week.
The data is updated weekly on Thursdays and illustrates where the virus is spreading in 166 local electoral areas.
The latest data shows that Donegal is the worst affected county in the country.
In addition to having the highest infection rate nationally at 602.6 cases per 100,000 residents in the Lifford / Stranorlar area, the county’s seven LEAs were above or in the national infection rate.
Nationally, about 40% of 166 LEAs had an infection rate 14 days above the national average, compared with 32% last week.
At the other end of the scale, 8% or 13 LEAs had fewer than five Covid-19 cases in the two weeks between September 22 and October 5, half of them in Munster.
While infection rates are declining in some local areas, they are experiencing exponential growth in some counties, such as Longford, Clare, and Roscommon.
The rate at Granard in Longford has more than tripled from 112.4 cases per 100,000 residents to 384.1 cases per 100,000 residents in the last week.
Kilrush in Clare now has the highest infection rate in Munster, at 290.6 cases per 100,000 residents, while the virus has also spread further in Ennis, which has an infection rate of 226.5 cases per 100,000 residents. .
Infection rates have also increased significantly in Cork, with rates doubling from 111.2 cases per 100,000 residents in Cork City South Central last week to 240.5 cases per 100,000 residents this week.
The urban area, which has a population of over 38,000 residents, has the highest rate in the county, followed by Cork City South West with 191.3 cases per 100,000 residents and Cork City North East with 173.1 cases per 100,000 residents.
On the other hand, the Kanturk and Bantry areas are nearly virus-free, with fewer than five cases detected in the two-week period, placing them among a small number of areas with the lowest possible infection rate.
The LEA’s figures come as the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) confirmed another 506 Covid-19 cases and one more death on Thursday night.
A total of 1,817 Covid-19-related deaths have been confirmed to date, while the number of confirmed cases now exceeds 40,000 since the pandemic took hold of them in March.
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