There’s been up to 18 new cases of Covid-19 in Carlow and Kilkenny.
NPHET has confirmed 227 new cases on Wednesday with five more deaths.
14 of the cases are in Kilkenny down slightly on the 15 cases yesterday.
Carlow has from 1 -to-4 new cases but the 14-day incidence rate of 121 per hundred thousand is sixth worst in the country.
Kilkenny is on 191, second only to Donegal, and more than double the national average of 80.
There was a slight increase in the number of new clusters of Covid-19 in the last week.
New data released by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre found there were 352 new clusters, up from 348 the previous week.
288 of these clusters were in household settings, which is 26 more last week.
Schools accounted for 14 outbreaks, while the number of clusters in hospitals, nursing homes and workplaces saw small drops.
A local GP says the consistently high Covid-19 numbers at St Luke’s are shocking and we all have to do something about it or we’ll have to go back into lockdown.
There’s 26 patients being treated for the virus at St Luke’s, according to the latest figures, and the suspension of all outpatient clinics and elective surgeries has also been extended this week.
There’s also overcrowding in the local Hospital for Carlow & Kilkenny with two wards still closed and 14 patients on trolleys according to the INMO on Wednesday.
Dr Tadgh Crowley says we need to get the numbers down in the community to help bring the numbers down in the Hospital or we’ll be facing into another lockdown.
