Both sides of Athlone have some of the lowest COVID-19 rates in the country

Both the Westmeath and Roscommon sides of Athlone are showing some of the country’s lowest rates of COVID-19 infections.

New figures released last night show the rate of new COVID-19 cases per population in the Athlone electoral area of Westmeath and the Athlone electoral area of Roscommon are among the ten lowest in the country in the last fortnight.

Of the 166 electoral areas in the country, the Athlone electoral area of Roscommon has the seventh lowest incidence of COVID-19 per population in the country in the fortnight up to midnight on January 4.

It is followed closely by the Athlone electoral area of Westmeath which has the eighth lowest incidence.

The figures show there have been 58 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Athlone area of Westmeath in the fortnight from December 22 to January 4.

Calculated on a population basis, this equates to a rate of 255.6 per 100,000 population. The national average is 674.4 per 100,000.

There were 51 cases in the same period in the Athlone electoral aera of Roscommon, giving a rate of 255.3 per 100,000.

The lowest rate in the country is in the Lismore electoral area of Waterford, which has a rate of 102.6.

The four electoral areas with the lowest rates are all in Waterford or Wexford.

The lowest eight locations are:

Lismore, Waterford, 102.6

Dungarvan, Waterford, 141.5

Portlaw-Kilmacthomas, Waterford, 146

Rosslare, Wexford 236.8

Midleton, Cork, 239.9

Arklow, Wicklow, 248.2

Athlone, Roscommon 255.3

Athlone, Westmeath 255.6

Elsewhere in Westmeath, there were 88 cases in the Moate electoral area during the latest fortnight for which figures are available. This represents a rate of 477.1 cases per 100,000.

The Moate electoral area includes 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.

It’s the highest rate among the county’s four electoral areas. Mullingar had a rate of 416 per 100,000 after recording 108 cases while there were 72 cases in Kinnegad, giving a rate of 332.2 per 100,000.

In the other two electoral areas in Roscommon, Roscommon town electoral area recorded the highest rate at 721.4, which is above the national average. There were 164 cases in the fortnight up to January 4. In Boyle, there were 87 cases, giving a rate of 398.5

The five highest 14-day incidence rates in the country were in the following electoral areas:

Belmullet, Mayo 2,111

Adare-Rathkeale, Limerick 2,010

Dundalk South, Louth 1,982

Milford, Donegal 1,786

Letterkenny, Donegal 1,678