Cavan has fourth highest Covid death rate to date

113 people lose their lives to virus

Cavan has the fourth highest rate of deaths from COVID-19.

But there’s been good news from the county’s vaccination centre with the HSE confirming the 50,000th vaccine was administered over the weekend.

Sadly, figures from the Health Protection and Surveillance Centre show 113 people died with the virus in the county between March 1, 2020 and September 14, 2021.

That accounts for just over two per cent of the country’s total death toll.

The HPSC calculates mortality rates per 100,000 people, giving County Cavan a rate of 148.34 deaths.

This compares with Monaghan’s rate of 166.16 - the highest in the country. It saw 102 deaths over the same 18-month period.

County Kerry recorded the lowest mortality rate in the country at 40.62 deaths per 100,000 people.

Cases steady in Cavan General

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cavan General Hospital, meanwhile, has remained somewhat steady over the past week.

The HSE operations report up to 8pm on Monday shows 10 patients in the hospital who have tested positive. That’s down one from the previous Monday.

It comes as the latest case figures show all three Local Electoral Areas (LEAs) in Cavan have Covid rates above the national average.

The weekly release from the Department of Health show rates in the county falling but still remain relatively high.

The Bailieborough-Cootehill LEA has the highest rate in the county at 750 per 100,000.

It’s followed by Cavan-Belturbet LEA at 509 and Ballyjamesduff LEA at 500/100K.

The national average stands at just over 413 confirmed cases per 100,000 of population. The Chief Medical Officer has ruled out imposing “regional lockdowns” in the hope of curbing the spread of Covid in the Border region but Dr Tony Holohan could not rule out further restrictions in future.

“On its own merits, that is not in our planning at this point in time,” he told the Oireachtas Health Committee last week.

The Border counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, said the CMO, have experienced a “very significant challenge” dealing with high levels of COVID-19 infection that reflect more what has been happening in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the Republic.

The most recent update from the Department of Health showed 1,154 new Covid cases were confirmed in Ireland on Monday.

Figures released at the weekend showed 90% of over 16s in Ireland have been fully vaccinated. This means Ireland has the highest vaccination rates in the European Union.