Fears of more Offaly restrictions ease for now

Offaly's 14-day incidence rate of COVID-19 has fallen in recent days,

The 14-day incidence rate is a key factor considered by NPHET in its recommendations to Government regarding potential changes to restrictions.

There were fears earlier this week that further restrictions could be imposed on Offaly when at a briefing on Monday, Elizabeth Canavan, the assistant secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach, said that Offaly was showing “concerning trends”.

“While there has been a significant focus on Dublin, the counties of Louth, Waterford, Limerick, Kildare, Leitrim and Offaly are now showing concerning trends,” she said.

At that stage Offaly's 14-day incidence rate of COVID-19 was at 64.1 per 100,000 population, since then it has fallen. Most recent figures up to midnight Tuesday showed a 14-day rate of 56.4 cases per 100,000 population in Offaly.

Dublin remains the county with the highest rate of cases per population over the previous 14 days, at 140.3, followed by Donegal at 122.5, Louth at 106.3 and Waterford at 97.3.