Wicklow Has One Of The Lowest Incidence Rates Of Covid-19 In Ireland

The country's Covid-19 testing capacity has increased to 140,000 a week, but only 87,000 were carried out over the past seven days.

The Health Minister,Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly has told an Oireachtas committee that level 5 restrictions have helped the 14-day incidence rate of the virus fall to 228 cases per 100,000 population.

However, Minister Donnelly says he's seriously concerned about the recent number of positive tests, with almost 11,000 reported over the past two weeks.

He says the health service has also just significantly expanded its testing capacity.

The positivity rate of the tests over the past week has decreased further to 4.7% - below the 5% benchmark, which the World Health Organisation says shows the spread of the disease is out of the control.

In Wicklow, the incidence rate in Greystones dropped from 243.1 to 171 while Bray West dropped from 146.7 to 125.

Bray East fell from 157.6 to 116.5 while Arklow saw their numbers plummet from 168 to 91.7.

Baltinglass experienced the biggest drop in the county from 160.5 to 76.4.

While there was a small rise in Wicklow Town from 92.1 to 102.5.