Two counties have seen a surge in coronavirus cases nearly as high as Dublin over the last two weeks, new figures show.
A key measure in determining if further restrictions will be put in place is the 14-day incidence rate of confirmed cases per 100,000 population.
And while Dublin remains the hardest-hit area in the country by this metric with a rate of 109.6, some other counties are not far off.
Louth, at 88.5, and Leitrim, at 81.1, have seen a clear surge in infections over recent days, according to new statistics released by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
This is a big increase from the incidence just five days ago, which stood at 41.9 in Louth, and 56.2 in Leitrim.
Waterford is another area to see a jump in cases with an incidence rate of 71.4.
However the biggest outbreaks are still to be found within the capital, with Dublin North West recording a staggering incidence of 161.8 over the last fortnight.
This is followed by Dublin South East on 134.2, and Dublin South West on 115.0.
It comes after Dr Ronan Glynn last night expressed particular concern for three other counties following the announcement of the latest coronavirus figures.
Dr Glynn said that concerning trends had been identified in Donegal, Louth and Waterford in the last week.
He said: "The current situation has deteriorated both in Dublin and nationally over the past week. Along with Dublin we have seen particularly concerning trends in Louth, Waterford and Donegal.
"It is now absolutely essential that people action public health advice and act as if they or those close to them are potentially infectious.”
A further 254 coronavirus cases were confirmed last night, the majority of which were in Dublin which remains the epicentre of Covid-19 in Ireland.
136 were in Dublin, 20 in Donegal, 13 in Louth, 12 in Wicklow, 9 in Waterford, 7 Carlow, 7 in Cork, 6 in Galway, 5 in Kerry, 5 in Wexford and the remaining 28 cases are located in Clare, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath.
