Belmullet in Co Mayo recorded the highest rate of Covid-19 of any Local Electoral Area (LEA) in the country during the two-week period to last Monday.
Between December 29th and January 11th, the area had a 14-day incidence rate of 6,031.7 per 100,000, recording 760 new cases of the virus during that period.
Dundalk South had the second highest rate, with 3,783.8 cases per 100,000 representing 1,227 new cases, while Adare-Rathkeale in Co Limerick had a rate of 3118.
Areas near the Border had among the highest rates of the virus in the first weeks of 2021, with all three Monaghan LEAs having rates in excess of 2000 cases per 100,000.
Ballybay-Clones claimed the highest incidence rate in the county with 3,054.2 but it was Monaghan LEA, containing Monaghan town, which recorded the largest increase in case numbers, reporting 558.
Athlone had the lowest rate of the virus in the country, with the town's two LEAs, covering the Roscommon and Westmeath sides and the surrounding areas noting 530.6 and 506.8 cases per 100,000 respectively.
On a county-by-county basis, Monaghan has the highest rate according to figures from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) this evening, reporting 2,793.8 cases per 100,000, almost double that of the national rate, 1,497.
Louth was second on 2,461.9, followed by Limerick (2,085.7), Waterford (1,904), Wexford (1,792), Mayo (1,709.5) and Dublin (1,684).
Leitrim had the lowest incidence of the virus (724), along with the smallest increase in case numbers during the two-week period ending at midnight on January 13th, reporting an additional 232 cases.
