Buncrana in County Donegal has the highest coronavirus rate in the country.
It is the second week in a row the town and its surrounds have been designated the hardest-hit in the country by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
As of Monday, the area had a 14-day rate of 536 cases per 100,000 people – down slightly on the 594.7 registered the week before.
Neighbouring constituency Letterkenny has the country’s second-highest rate at 409.
Listowel in County Kerry is not far behind on 404.5, followed by Newcastle-West on 331.9 and Gort-Kinvara 310.6.
🆕🦠 LEA data released:
Buncrana, Donegal has the highest 14-incidence rate per 100,000 at 536.5.
Listowel, Kerry - 404.5
Newcastle West, Limerick - 331.9
Gort-Kinvara, Galway - 310.6
Tallaght, Dublin - 310.2
Athlone, Westmeath - 295.31/3 pic.twitter.com/SqDiPT2Muv
— Ben Finnegan (@_BenFinnegan) November 12, 2020
In the same period, the national 14-day rate has dropped from 202.1 to 145.
In terms of urban areas, the hardest-hit area of Dublin is now Tallaght, where the 14-day incidence rate stands at 310.
Cork City's north-West Constituency has the largest rate in the county at 248.8.
In Galway, the city central area has seen its rate fall to 134.8.
Several areas still have a 14-day incidence rate of less than five, including Lismore in Waterford, Dingle in Kerry and two local electoral areas in Leitrim.
It comes after Donegal-cases TD Dr Martin Coyne told The Pat Kenny Show that Donegal could be left with Level Five restrictions over Christmas, as the rest of the country moves forward.
Last night, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said the country as a whole can continue to drive down transmission rates – even if some areas are not experiencing the same reduction as others.
With reporting from Ben Finnegan
Main image shows Gardaí conducting high-visibility patrols in Buncrana, County Donegal, 30-09-2020. Image: Garda Info/Twitter
