Data published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre does not support concerns expressed about the rate of Covid-19 cases in Co Leitrim.
Yesterday Co Leitrim was included in a list of counties outside of Dublin where officials are most concerned about Covid-19 trends.
The Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach, Liz Canavan, said a number of counties "are now showing concerning trends" with regard to the number of coronavirus cases.
Speaking at a Government press briefing, she said counties "Louth, Waterford, Limerick, Kildare, Leitrim, Donegal and Offaly are now showing concerning trends".
However, the HPSC figures do not indicate that the Covid-19 incidence rate in Co Leitrim is one of the highest in the country, nor do they suggest that the 14-day incidence rate of the disease in Co Leitrim has been rising.
According to the HPSC, the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 in Co Leitrim was 34.3 per 100,000 of population at midnight on Saturday night, less than half the national average.
That figure is down from 65.5 per 100,000 cases a week earlier which is a reduction of almost 48%.
It is also 31% lower than the 14-day incidence rate for Leitrim that was reported two weeks ago.
There are currently 15 counties in the Republic of Ireland with higher Covid-19 incidence rates than Co Leitrim.
The HPSC data shows 48 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Leitrim over the past three weeks.
That total included 16 cases recorded three weeks ago, followed by 21 cases two weeks ago, but just 11 cases in the past week.
Covid rate stabilises in Limerick
Meanwhile, the incidence of Covid-19 in Co Limerick has stabilised and reduced since the county was highlighted as an area of particular concern by the National Public Health Emergency Team more than two weeks ago.
The 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 in the county was 59.5 cases per 100,000 of population back then according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
This rose to 63.1 cases last week but has since fallen to 51.8. This leaves the rate of Covid-19 in Limerick city and county 23% lower than two weeks ago, and 27.5% lower than last week.
The experience in Limerick is in sharp contrast to Dublin where the incidence rate of the disease rose from 58.7 to 138 per 100,000 over the past two weeks - a 135 % increase.
This precipitated the decision to move Dublin up to threat-level-three in the living with Covid-19 roadmap with new social and economic restrictions imposed over the weekend.
Co Limerick is one of only five counties where the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 per 100,000 people has fallen over the past week.
The other counties are; Kilkenny, where the rate has fallen by 12.8%; Longford, down 28.6%; Tipperary, down 38.8%; and Leitrim where the disease incidence rate is down 47.63% over the past week.
There have also been relatively low increases in the disease incidence over the past week in counties Laois (up 2.8%), Offaly (up 4.5%), Meath (up 5.3%), Kildare (up 7.85%) and Wexford (up 8.6%).
These compare with an average increase in disease incidence for the country as a whole of 40.8%.
According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre there have been 70.4 cases per 100,000 people nationwide over the past two weeks.
The disease incidence rates per county listed from highest to lowest is as follows:
14-day Incidence per 100,000, 20/09/2020
- Dublin - 138
- Louth - 101.6
- Donegal - 96.7
- Waterford - 93.8
- Wicklow - 70.9
- Ireland - 70.4
- Kildare - 66.5
- Offaly - 60.3
- Westmeath - 51.8
- Limerick - 45.7
- Laois - 43.7
- Roscommon - 43.4
- Clare - 42.9
- Monaghan - 39.1
- Carlow - 36.9
- Longford - 36.7
- Leitrim - 34.3
- Wexford - 34.1
- Meath - 31.8
- Galway - 30.6
- Kilkenny - 27.2
- Cork - 26.9
- Mayo - 26.1
- Cavan - 22.3
- Sligo - 18.3
- Kerry - 17.6
- Tipperary - 16.9
