Dozens of confirmed cases of COVID and influenza were reported in Kerry over the Christmas break.
That’s according to figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, covering up until December 30th.
The figures show that nationally, cases of COVID, flu and RSV were lower than in the previous week, but testing and data collection slows over Christmas, which may have an impact on confirmed case numbers.
In the week to December 30th, there were 23 cases of COVID confirmed in Kerry, which is an incidence rate of 14.7 per 100,000 people.
In total this winter, there were 216 COVID cases in Kerry, an incidence rate of 138.1 per 100,000 people.
There were also 53 cases of flu recorded in Kerry in the week to December 30th, the fourth highest of any county, and a total of 146 cases across the winter period.
The incidence of RSV cases, meanwhile, has slowed, with ten confirmed in Kerry in the week to December 30th.
The HPSC’s latest information on COVID variants show that the JN.1 sub-strain has been increasing globally in recent weeks.
It says while there are likely to be increases in case numbers, there is no indication of additional public health risks or increased disease severity relative to other currently circulating sub-strains of COVID.
