The level of Covid-19 varied significantly between counties over the Christmas period, with some having an incidence rate that’s four times higher than others, new data shows.

The latest weekly epidemiology report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), examining between December 26th and January 1st, shows the surge in cases over the Christmas period as the highly-transmissible Omicron variant took hold of the country.

Westmeath had the highest incidence rate by a significant margin that week at 3056.2 cases per 100,000 population.

Hospital Report

This was followed by Clare, with an incidence of 1,974 per 100,000, Kilkenny at 1,855.2 per 100,000, and 1,820 per 100,000 population in Longford.

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Kerry had the lowest incidence rate at 884.9 per 100,000 population, according to the HPSC report.

This was followed by Wexford at 956.4 per 100,000, Waterford at 1042.4 per 100,000 and Cavan at 1058.1 per 100,000.

Record cases

The latest surge in cases had an impact on many families’ Christmas celebrations around the country, as a record number of daily cases were notified on several days throughout the festivities.

The infection rates meant many people had to self-isolate in their room and celebrate alone, while close contacts had to restrict their movements instead of meeting friends or family.

The HPSC report states, however, that the true scale of infection has not been recorded and is “artificially reduced”, due to demand for testing outstripping capacity and due to reduced services at Christmas.

According to official figures, 65,044 people contracted the virus during Christmas week, though public health experts have estimated that the true number is two or three times that figure.

However, while the number of cases increased substantially, the number of people being admitted to ICU remained relatively stable, with early indications that the Omicron variant may not be as severe as its predecessor Delta.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases of the virus surpassed the one million mark on Monday, as a further 23,909 cases of Covid-19 were reported.