Cahersiveen is Kerry’s worst-hit COVID area

WITH 25 CASES IN TOTAL, SOUTH KERRY TOWN HAS THE HIGHEST RATE OF COVID IN A KERRY ELECTORAL DIVISION

CAHERSIVEEN has been the area in Kerry worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic per head of population, according to data provided by the HSE and Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

A total of 25 cases of the virus had been confirmed in the South Kerry town up to June 12, according to an interactive online map outlining the number of confirmed cases in each Electoral Division (ED). Cahersiveen’s total works out at more than 1,350 cases per 100,000 people, which is the highest average outlined in the county.

The news will not come as a major surprise given the hugely controversial outbreak of the virus in the town’s Skellig Star Direct Provision centre earlier this summer.

The town accounts for eight per cent of the county’s 310 confirmed cases to date.

In EDs where five or fewer cases were confirmed, an exact number of confirmed cases is not provided – and this applies to the vast majority of Kerry’s

EDs.

Tralee and its surrounds have been among the worst-hit regions in the county, with 76 cases recorded in rural Tralee and 18 in the Tralee urban area.

The Ballynahaglish, Fenit (12); Clogherbrien (nine); Rathass (nine); and Abbeydorney (seven) EDs have also recorded more than five cases.

A total of 12 cases were recorded in the Killarney urban district, with eight in the Killarney rural area, and the Coolies ED to the south of these has recorded six cases.

The number of active cases in the county has not been released, although one confirmed case remained on-site at University Hospital Kerry as of 8pm on Monday, June 22.

The county had gone four weeks without a case being diagnosed, however two cases were confirmed in the past week.

Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan