More than 1,000 people tested for Covid in Athlone

Record numbers of people have been attending for Covid-19 testing locally, with more than 1,000 swabbed for the virus in Athlone on Wednesday (December 29).

The pop-up testing centre at Athlone GAA club has been consistently busy since it opened at the end of November, but the demand for testing in the last week has risen dramatically.

Figures provided by the HSE this evening showed that almost 800 tests were carried out at the Athlone centre on Christmas Eve.

The centre was closed on Christmas Day, but reopened on St Stephen's Day.

In the first three days of this week it has processed more than 2,500 appointments, with 1,012 of those tests carried out today.

Here are the daily test figures provided by the HSE for the number of test appointments at the Athlone centre since Monday, December 20:

* December 20: 434

* December 21: 676

* December 22: 691

* December 23: 716

* December 24: 796

* December 25: 0

* December 26: 456

* December 27: 714

* December 28: 798

* December 29: 1,012

Nationally, a further 16,428 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded today, which was the highest-ever daily total in Ireland.