Figures show Galway winning Covid fight

Galway has drastically halted the spread of Coronavirus in just three weeks – and, in the process, shed its tag as one of the top-five worst counties for Covid-19 in Ireland.

The latest data suggests that Galway city and county now has one of the lowest incidence rates of infection of Covid-19 in the country.

Over the October Bank Holiday weekend, Galway’s incidence rate per 100,000 population stood at 382.5 – the fifth worst in the country, and way ahead of the national average.

But lockdown restrictions have contributed to the Covid-19 incidence rate in Galway being slashed in just three weeks. As of midnight on Saturday, November 14, the incidence rate per 100,000 population had tumbled to 81, which was the fourth best of 26 counties and below the national average of 120.4.

The rate increased slightly again to 84.5 per 100,000 as of Monday. The number of confirmed cases in Galway in the two weeks to Monday was 218, bringing the running total to 2,552.

There have been 17 deaths from Covid-19 recorded in Galway since the pandemic hit in March, according to the Central Statistics Office. Three of the deceased died in October. The median age of Galway Covid deaths was 81 and the median age of cases was 25.

Numbers of Covid hospitalisations remain low in Galway. There were seven confirmed and two suspected Covid patients in UHG on Tuesday, including one suspected case in ICU. Portiuncula had no confirmed and just one suspected case.

See full story – and Covid update – in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now. Or you can download our digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie