The Ennistymon electoral area once again has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the country.
It comes as around 1 in 80 people in Clare have tested positive for the virus in the past 14 days.
263 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the Ennistymon electoral area in the two weeks up to this past Monday, leaving its rate per 100,000 people at 1,602.9.
Only a handful of areas nationwide have reported a higher prevalence of the disease in that 14 day period.
While Clare’s four other electoral areas are reporting incidence rates below the national average of 1,316.9 this week, numbers remain high.
257 new cases in the Killaloe region see its number stand at 1,278.1 per 100,000 people.
394 cases in Ennis and its environs, with its higher population, means its number is at 1,274.7.
380 cases in Shannon see its rate increase to 1,250.1.
The incidence rate of the virus has fallen by more than 20 percent in West Clare in the past week though.
219 new cases in the Kilrush electoral area see its figure at 1,043.2, which is the lowest in the county.
It comes as NPHET’s recommending new restrictions on household visits and indoor hospitality to tackle the spread of Covid-19.
It’s understood to be proposing one household only be allowed gather with three others until mid-February.
Opening hour limits and rules around table sittings and multiple bookings at pubs and restaurants are also proposed.
There has been a further 4,163 Covid cases, while 545 people are in hospital with the virus, and 117 in ICU.
