The possibility of a Christmas lockdown still looms large in Ireland.
On the day where the first case of the new Omicron variant was recorded here, there was further grim news from the latest Covid data report by the HPSC.
Overall, the national 14-day incidence rate now stands at a whopping 1,316.9 cases per 100,000 population.
But when you break that down even further into the seven-day incidence rates, it paints a grim picture for five counties in particular.
The National Public Health emergency team has never ruled out the possibility of either a Christmas lockdown, or a return to local restrictions like we saw back in March of 2020.
If NPHET were to advise on local lockdowns, there are five counties in particular that would be in danger.
Carlow
Carlow has the highest rate of vaccination, at 96.7% of over-12s.
But that hasn't stopped a bad surge of Covid cases in the county, with a further 601 positive results in the last week - giving an incidence rate of 1055.6. One in every 22 people in the county tested positive in the last seven days.
Their 14-day rate isn't much better, standing at 1870.7 per 100,000 population.
Westmeath
The Leinster county has the second-worst rate for both the last fortnight and the last seven days.
The 14-day rate sits at 1841.1 cases per 100,000 population, with the seven-day rate now at 947.4 cases per 100,000 population.
Longford
Longford had the worst Local Electorate Area rate in the country a couple of weeks ago and the surge hasn't been stopped since that date according to the latest HPSC data.
Despite only recording 350 cases in the seven days up to Tuesday, the incidence rate remains at 856.3 cases per 100,000 people.
That does represent a drop-off in the last fortnight.
Louth
Despite having the smallest area for any county, Louth's incidence rate has been rising sharply in recent weeks.
That continued up to Tuesday, with 1,066 new cases recorded in the previous seven days.
Dublin
This is one which may cause alarm for the health officials, as the capital's cases surged once again in the last week.
Over 20,000 positive results have been recorded in the two weeks up to Tuesday - giving Dublin a 14-day rate of 1485.4 cases per 100,000 people and a seven day rate of 763.9
On the opposite end of the scale, Leitrim, Offaly, Kerry and Mayo, have the lowest seven-day rates.
