Positivity rate from Athlone walk-in test centre was country's lowest

Fewer than one in every hundred people who attended the walk-in COVID-19 test centre in Athlone last week were found to be positive for the virus.

The centre, established at Athlone Regional Sports Centre, was in operation from Good Friday to Tuesday of this week.

It tested some 1,222 people over the five days, and HSE figures reported by the Irish Independent show that there was a positive rate of just 0.86%.

This would indicate that there were some 10 or 11 positive cases among those tested in Athlone.

The 0.86% rate was the lowest reported from the various temporary test centres around the country in the last fortnight.

The centres operated on a no-appointment basis with people with no symptoms living in areas within 5k or 15k of the centre encouraged to attend for a free test.

It’s reported that an overall positivity rate of 2.7% was found in the walk-in centres nationally, but there was a huge variation across the centre.

Finglas had a positivity rate of 5.35%; Blanchardstown was 4.14%; Irishtown was 3.68%; and Crumlin was 3.19%.

The positivity results for the other centres were Naas 1.98%; Balbriggan 1.6%; Ballinasloe 1.5%; Tallaght 2.55%; Tullamore 1.93%; Navan 1.18%; and Grangegorman 2.15%.