Scale of Covid-19 deaths in Cavan highlighted in department figures

Figures released by the Department of Health indicate that Cavan has had the highest Covid-19 related mortality rate in the country since the pandemic began. The Breffni county's overall death rate is well above the national average.

The analysis of the country’s 3,978 confirmed Covid-19 deaths were most severe in five counties, the Cavan the most affected since the beginning of the crisis up to February 23 this year.

Dublin, Kildare, Monaghan and Mayo join Cavan as the counties that have lost more than one in 1,000 of its population to the virus.

The statistics show that Dublin has recorded 1,476 deaths, the highest overall number in the period and almost a third of the national total.

Cork had 355 deaths while Co Kildare recorded 244. The next two highest counties were Limerick with 188 deaths and Mayo with 155.

The analysis of the rate of deaths per 100,000 shows that Cavan comes joint twelfth with Waterford for the overall number. However the rate of death per 100,000 pushes it to the highest in the country.

The nationally figure is 83.5 for the period, but Cavan hits a staggering 120 per 100,000. Mayo was next highest with a rate of 118.8, followed by Monaghan at 112.4 and Kildare at 109.7.

The county with the lowest number of deaths was Leitrim, where 13 deaths were recorded. However, Sligo had the lowest rate of Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 of population, with a figure of 25.9 recorded.