Tyrone, Longford and Waterford are Ireland's Covid hotspots, according to the latest official figures.
The most Covid-infected region on the island is Tyrone, with many postcode areas in the county recording incidence rates above 1,000 cases per 100,000 over the latest two-week period.
The BT75 postcode, which covers Fivemiletown, has the highest rate on the island. Almost 1 in 43 people tested positive over the latest two-week period – 2,297 cases per 100,000 people.
Cases also remain high in the postcodes covering Omagh, Strabane and Castlederg.
Longford town has the highest rate of Covid-19 in the Republic, with a 14-day incidence rate of 1,695 cases per 100,000.
Waterford city and county continues to have very high rates of Covid infection, despite having some of the best vaccine uptake.
Waterford City South has a 14-day incidence of 1,673 cases per 100,000, an increase from 1,486 last week.
The neighbouring areas of Pilltown, Co Kilkenny (1,232 cases per 100,000), Waterford City East (1,149) and Tramore (1,100) are also experiencing high infection rates.
Some 99.7 per cent of adults over the age of 18 (as registered in the last census) are fully vaccinated in Co Waterford.
Kerry, which for much of the pandemic has had the lowest Covid infection rates, now has some of the highest.
Kenmare (1,256), Tralee (1,211) and Castleisland (1,108) all have rates of more than 1,000 cases per 100,000. Kanturk in Co Cork, which is on the Co Kerry border, has a rate of 1,098.
The figures are based on the number of new cases in the Republic’s 166 local electoral areas and the North's 80 postcode areas over the most recent two-week period.
Ongar has the highest infection rate in Dublin, with 885 cases per 100,000 people, up from 742 last week. Pembroke has the lowest rate in the capital at 301 per 100,000, up from 202 last week.
Belmullet in Co Mayo (119) and Rosslare in Co Wexford (181) have the lowest rates on the island. Other places with low rates include Ballymote/Tobercurry in Co Sligo (209) and Trim, Co Meath (230).
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has suggested that renewed restrictions can be avoided if the number of Covid patients in intensive care units can be limited to around 150.
Mr Varadkar was speaking against a backdrop of continued high daily numbers of new Covid-19 cases.
A further 2,605 Covid cases were confirmed in the Republic on Thursday. The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 stands at 481, with 99 in intensive care.
When asked by reporters about the chances of another lockdown, Mr Varadkar said that “nobody can rule it out”.
He said he thought it could be avoided “because of the vaccination programme – 2,000 or 3,000 cases a day doesn’t mean what it meant last year or last winter”.
