Almost half of new Covid-19 cases last week were linked to an outbreak in the workplace, latest figures reveal.
Two thirds of new infections during the week ending 7th August were in Kildare, Laois and Offaly with 339 cases.
The three counties were put into a two-week lockdown on Friday of last week after massive virus clusters were discovered in local meat processing plants.
Over half (54%) of confirmed cases have now been linked to an outbreak with 46% traced to a workplace cluster.
The factory outbreak saw coronavirus cases jump by 79% nationally with 509 last week compared to 285 the previous week.
Men made up 62% of cases last week, however women continue to be worst hit by the killer bug overall with 3,489 more cases in females than in males.
Last week marked the fifth in a row that over 100 new infections were recorded around the country, according to CSO stats published on Friday.
The median age of new COVID-19 cases was 34 years old compared to 35 the previous week.
The majority of new cases are in the 25-44 age group at 9,315 overall.
Over half of deaths from the virus (51%) have been in Dublin.
However, last week saw new cases in the capital fall below 100 for the fifth week in a row.
Meanwhile, the number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Dublin has been less than 10 for the last six weeks.
At the other end of the scale, Waterford marked its fifteenth week and Kerry marked its fourteenth week in a row with less than 10 new cases.
