Cork among counties with highest Covid-19 incidence rate

CORK currently has one of the highest 14-day incidence rates of Covid-19 in the country, with over 5,346 cases confirmed in the county in the past two weeks.

The latest figures were revealed by deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn at this afternoon’s public health briefing.

“Leitrim, Waterford, Carlow, Louth, Laois, Longford, Westmeath, Donegal, Cork, and Kerry, all have a 14-day-incidence of more than 1,000 per 100,000 cases,” Dr Glynn said.

As of 8am today, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre had been notified of 2,975 confirmed cases of the virus nationwide, with 551 people in hospital and 89 of those patients being treated in ICU.

Dr Glynn said the rising figures were “concerning”.

Dr Ronan Glynn says counties Leitrim, Waterford, Carlow, Louth, Laois, Longford, Westmeath, Donegal, Cork, and Kerry, all have a 14-day-incidence of more than 1,000 per 100,000 cases. | More: https://t.co/A0I3TyS3t8 pic.twitter.com/BPpdEV12uj

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 10, 2021

Last week, the electoral area in Cork with the highest 14-day incidence rate was Kanturk. The Bandon-Kinsale electoral area reported the lowest incidence rate in the county.

In total, over 43,600 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Cork since March 2020, making it the second most affected area behind Dublin.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan wished to remind the public that even though keeping guard is tiresome, the virus was circulating at “too high a level”.

He called on people to reduce their social contacts this week by half.

“A pandemic can be a long and exhausting experience and I am aware that we are all tired of this virus but the reality is that the virus is here,” he said.

“The virus moves when we are in close contact with a Covid positive person. This person could be a family member, a friend, a colleague or a stranger. It could be someone with no symptoms who is fully vaccinated.

"The action needed now is for all of us to reduce our social contacts and give the virus less opportunity to spread.

“Reduce the people you intend to meet this week by half. If we all do this collectively, we can suppress current levels of infection.”