New figures have revealed Waterford, Laois, Cork, Offaly, Clare, Limerick, Wicklow, Kerry and Galway are the counties worst affected by Covid-19.
They all had an incidence rate of over 280 per 100,000 in the past week.
The figures do not paint a full picture of the scale of the situation as they rely on free HSE PCR tests.
The counties with the lowest reported cases are Roscommon, Monaghan, Cavan, Louth, Leitrim, Wexford, Mayo and Kilkenny.
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The figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre are a cause for concern as Ireland enters what has been called a ‘summer wave’ of the virus.
There were 798 Covid-19 patients in hospital yesterday, up from 776 on Wednesday.
Of these, 33 were in intensive care.
Numerous industries have been affected by staff absences due to infection.
The Dail heard yesterday that Dublin bus operator Go-Ahead Ireland and several other public transport providers are experiencing “higher-than-normal” levels of Covid-related staff absences.
GPs are reporting people are developing possible symptoms but not following the advice to self-isolate until 48 hours after signs of illness disappear.
Many people are relying on at home antigen tests which potentially can show a false negative.
Those with potential symptoms have been advised to self-isolate until two days after they have gone, and not to see a negative as a definitive answer.
The latest available report on Covid-19 deaths shows 336 were documented in April, 108 in May and 41 in June up to last Saturday.
Between mid-December and June 19, 85pc of those admitted to intensive care due to Covid-19 had an underlying condition such as heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease or liver disease.
However, this doesn’t mean you’re in the clear if you have overall good health, 14.6% of patients ended up very sick with no underlying condition.
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