Infection rate 12 times higher than a month ago

THE rate of new Covid infections in Co Sligo is now more than 12 times higher than in early December, according to the latest figures available when going to press yesterday, Wednesday.

The latest 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 for the county (up to midnight on January 3) shows that the rate of infection in Sligo has jumped from just 51.9 to 672.5 in one month and is the sixth highest in the country.

The number of confirmed cases in the county has gone from 752 on December 3 to 1,260 on January 3, an increase of 512 in the month. That compared to a rise of only 96 in the previous month.

And, more worringly, the rate of increase in cases has accelerated in the past couple of weeks, rising by 448 from December 20 to January 3. The breakdown for the three electoral areas within the county is not as up to date, with the last figures available only up to December 28.

However, the figures indicate that there have been bigger surges in cases out in the county compared to Sligo town, where there had been a higher infection rate.

The incident rate in the Sligo-Strandhill electoral area (which includes Sligo town and the area out to and including Strandhill) rose from 80.5 to 170.4 between December 14 and December 28.

But in the same period the rate in the Ballymote-Tubbercurry area (which covers most of the county south of Sligo town) went up from 70 to 261, while in the Sligo-Drumcliffe area (the north of the county) it shot up from just five to 237.