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Cavan is proportionally the most coronavirus affected county outside of Dublin, the latest provisional figures suggest.
While in real terms the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 infections in the border county is a fraction of those in the capital, the infection rates in Cavan appear to be much higher than in the rest of the country when compared to its actual population.
Figures released by the Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) on Saturday compare cases with the county’s populations.
They show 345 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Cavan, a county with a population of approximately 76,000, as of midnight Wednesday.
However, that would translate to almost 453 cases per 100,000 people, making it proportionally the second most affected county in the State.
Cumulative incidence rates per 100,000 population for confirmed CovidD-19 cases as of midnight April 15 by county. Photography: HSE
Earlier this month, the Irish Association of Hospital Consultants (IHCA) said doctors were sent to work at Cavan General Hospital, after up to 70 doctors and nurses were reported to be working there they had been infected with Covid-19.
Meanwhile, in Dublin, there were 6,567 confirmed cases as of midnight Wednesday, representing more than 487 infections per 100,000 in the population.
Westmeath ranks third highest when comparing cases to county populations, with an infection rate of about 358 cases per 100,000 people.
The figures are in a report prepared by HPSC for the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). It is titled Covid-19 Epidemiology in Ireland and notes that the data is provisional.
Border counties
In addition to Leitrim, all border counties appear to have significantly higher rates per population than much of the south and west of the country.
In Louth, which includes the dense urban centers of Drogheda and Dundalk, the confirmed rate of Covid-19 per 100,000 population is almost 298 cases. In Monaghan it is more than 270, while in Donegal the rate exceeds 221.
Leitrim sparsely populated has a rate of almost 144.
The figures compare unfavorably with parts of the southeast, especially.
Wexford has the lowest rate per 100,000 population, with fewer than 51 cases. That rate is almost nine times less than that of Cavan, and a fraction of that of all other border counties.
Waterford is the second lowest, just below 88.
Even counties with large cities have significantly lower case-per-population rates than most border counties.
In Cork, the rate is 174 cases; in Limerick it is 176, while Galway registers 103 confirmed cases for every 100,000 people.
Counties around Dublin rank higher than South and West: Kildare has a rate of 279 confirmed infections per 100,000 inhabitants; Wicklow has a rate of almost 270, while Meath has a rate of 216.
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