NEW: The number of COVID-19 cases in each electoral area of Westmeath in last 14 days
Two of the four local electoral areas in Westmeath have a 14-day incidence rate of COVID-19 above the national average.
New figures were released this weekend showing the numbers of cases in electoral area in the country.
Westmeath is divided into four local electoral areas, Athlone, Moate, Mullingar and Kinnegad.
Of the four, Kinnegad had the highest 14-day rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases at 83 per 100,000.
In raw number terms, there were 18 confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded in the Kinnegad local electoral area in the 14 days from September 1- September 14.
This is above the national average rate of 52.8 per 100,000.
There were 11 confirmed cases in the Moate local electoral area in the 14 days concerned.
This equates to a rate of 59.6 per 100,000, also above the national average.
The Moate electoral areas was created as part of a reconfiguration of Westmeath's local government system in 2018.
It spans Moate, Mount Temple, Tang, Drumraney and Ballymore, and stretches south east as far as Tyrrellspass, north as far as Rathowen and east to the outskirts of Mullingar.
Athlone had the lowest incidence of COVID-19 during the 14 days in Westmeath.
There were five cases reported, which equates to a rate of 22 per 100,000 population.
In Mullingar, there were eight confirmed cases between September 1 and September 14.
This results in a rate of 30.8 per 100,000.
The new system of reporting on local areas weekly was announced by the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly today.
Minister Donnelly said: “I understand that people really want to know more detailed information about this virus, how it is affecting their communities, and those around the country as a whole. The COVID-19 Data Hub now offers regularly updated Local Electoral Area data in order to fulfil this very real desire that is out there for transparency around this virus and its impact. Transparency is a key cornerstone of Ireland’s response to this pandemic. At this crucial time, it matters more than ever.”
He added: “I am proud to announce that this has been done through collaborative hard work and effort between my Department, the Ordnance Survey Ireland, the All-Island Research Observatory, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the Health Service Executive, and the Central Statistics Office.”
He concluded: “I would like to commend the tireless commitment of those behind the scenes working on bringing timely, localised information to the general public at this critical time for public health surveillance. Thanks to them, compared to other countries, Ireland ranks highly in terms of the level of localised data on offer to the public.”
The number of new COVID-19 cases in each Local Electoral Area (LEA) will be published weekly on a Thursday, reflecting new cases notified in each LEA for the 14-day period up to midnight on the previous Monday.
Previously the Government had been providing figures on a local electoral division basis. These are smaller units of the country’s electoral system. There had only been two updates of the numbers of COVID-19 cases per electoral division since the pandemic began.
The Department of Health said it changed from reporting figures at electoral division to electoral area as it permits more frequent uploading of information and satisfies concerns regarding confidentiality and privacy
The figures can be accessed HERE