There are a number of areas in the country that have almost squashed Covid-19 completely as new HSE data has revealed that one major town is still being battered by the virus.
With Ireland finally set to ease some of the level five lockdown restrictions on Monday, people will start to feel a little bit of freedom.
The major barrier being lifted is the removal of the 5km travel limit, with people allowed to travel within their county or within 20km of their home if they are on a county border.
But there are some areas who will want to avoid a deluge of people arriving in after they managed to get Covid-19 down to its knees.
In total, 20 areas now have an incidence rate per 100,000 population of zero.
This is as a result of all of them recording less than five cases of Covid-19 in the two weeks leading up to Easter Monday.
In particular, Munster appears to be squeezing the virus into submission.
The 20 areas are:
- Listowel, Kerry
- Castleisland, Kerry
- Kenmare, Kerry
- Corca Duibhne, Kerry
- Skibbereen, Cork
- Bantry, Cork
- Kanturk, Cork
- Bandon-Kinsale, Cork
- Portlaw-Kilmacthomas, Waterford
- Lismore, Waterford
- Dungarvan, Waterford
- Tramore, Waterford
- Callan-Thomastown, Kilkenny
- Kilkenny city, Kilkenny
- Conamara North, Galway
- Belmullet, Mayo
- Ballymote-tobercurry, Sligo
- Sligo-drumcliff, Sligo
- Muinebeag, Carlow
- Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim.
However, the same cannot be said for Tullamore, who once again remain on top of the worst-hit regions.
Their incidence rate of 672.6 is over four times the national average.
However, the people of Tullamore aren't behaving any differently to those in other areas of the country, according to local councillor Ken Smollen.
The Cllr told the Irish Mirror: "The mood of the local people in the Tullamore area is one of confusion as most people cannot understand why the Covid figures for this area are so high. Like many people all over Ireland there’s a growing loss of confidence in the Government. More and more people are distrusting what they’re being told by Government officials.
"Are there cases in a factory, supermarket, school or other settings that we’re not being told about? I’ve no doubt that the people of Offaly are not behaving any differently to people in the rest of the country."
Other areas to rank highly in terms of incidence rate included:
- Cavan-Belturbet, Cavan
- Milford, Donegal
- Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Dublin
- North Inner City, Dublin
- Balbriggan, Dublin
- Swords, Dublin
- Greystones, Wicklow
- Athlone, Westmeath
- Mullingar, Westmeath
