Waterford best in the country for keeping our infection figures low

WITH just three new cases of Covid-19 in the space of a week – fewer than any other county – Waterford seems to be handling the pandemic better than others.

The latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, for the week to May 15, also show Kerry added four new cases, Donegal, Laois and Tipperary had six new reports each, and Carlow had seven new cases.

Waterford’s Covid-19 incidence rate – the number of cases per 100,000 people – is the lowest in the country. Speaking to Déise Today on radio station WLR, Kate Killeen White, chief officer of South-East Community Healthcare

and chair of the HSE’s crisis management team in the southeast, said local people had really stepped up to meet the challenge of the pandemic.

‘We have been managing exceptionally well in Waterford the last number of weeks and we really, really need to maintain that position,’ she said.

‘Everyone in Waterford, difficult as it has been, has taken the necessary steps to flatten the curve.

‘The HSE, An Garda Síochána and the local authority have worked together during this crisis, and each and every single member of the community in the county and city of Waterford have played their part to contain this pandemic.’

Ms Killeen White added that the important thing for the public to do now is to ‘hold firm’ and not become complacent.

‘We must protect each other and the work that we have all done. We really have come a long way but it is important that we follow the advice, follow the plan, otherwise there is a real risk that we will go back to square one and undo all of the hard work,’ she said.

According to Ms Killeen White, there have now been more than 4,000 tests in the Waterford area in both community and residential settings, which has resulted in low positivity rates.

‘That is the position that we want to maintain,’ she said, acknowledging there have been some delays in tests, but that they are working to speed up the turnaround times.

Waterford has a lower rate of the virus than any other county. With 125.7 cases per 100,000 population, it beats out its next-door neighbour, Wexford, which has 141.6 cases per 100,000 population.

Galway has the next lowest number of cases with 162 per 100,000 people.

The county with the highest incident rate is Cavan, with 1,025.3 cases per 100,000 people, which means one in every hundred people in the county has tested positive for the disease.