By Muireann Duffy
Ireland's Covid-19 incidence rate has risen to its highest level since May 18th, with one part of Dublin hitting a 14-day incidence rate of 134.2 cases per 100,000.
The 14-day incidence rate of cases per 100,000 people for Ireland is now 51.46, putting us 17th in the list of 31 European countries, according to data from the European Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC).
In the two-week period between September 3rd and 16th, Ireland recorded 2,344 additional cases of the virus.
We had gone 16 days without recording a death due to Covid-19 between August 24th and September 8th, while in that same two-week period from September 3rd, 10 deaths were recorded.
Despite this, Ireland still has a relatively low 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people, with just 0.2.
Breaking down the figures to a county-by-county basis, Dublin continues to have the highest incidence rate, now 109.6, prompting speculation that the county will be moved to Level Three of the Government's new restrictions framework.
The county continues to record vastly different incidence rates in different areas, however the rate of cases in each of the eight zones have risen to above 90, except for Dublin South.
The framework, which was announced on Tuesday, would see visitors from only one other household being allowed in your home at one time and a ban on social gatherings in any other setting if Dublin were to be placed in Level Three.
Louth, Leitrim and Waterford have also noted sharp increases in their incidence rates, recording 88.5, 81.1 and 71.4 respectively.
Tipperary, Mayo, Cork and Cavan all have incidence rates of less than 20, while Sligo is the only county with a rate under 10.
Map of Europe based on 14-incidence rate of cases per 100,000 by region. Source: ECDC
Figures have also been on the increase in the UK, with their 14-day incidence rate steadily rising since July 14th, when is was just 12.32, to where it is now, at 55.6.
The UK has recorded 37,060 additional cases of the virus since September 3rd, and 160 deaths.
Spain continues to be one of the worst affected countries in Europe, with all bar one region in the North of the country recording an incidence rate in excess of 120. As a whole, Spain's current incidence rate is by far the highest in Europe at 281.6, followed by France with 162.8.
Across the Atlantic, the US has a similar rate of 161,25, recording 51,473 cases of Covid-19 and 1,407 related deaths on September 16th.
