Irish health officials confirmed 7,729 positive PCR cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday as cases continue to rise.
In addition to this, the number of people who have logged a positive antigen test on the HSE portal in the past 24 hours is 15,973.
As of 8am on March 22, 1,338 Covid-19 patients are in hospitals across the country being treated for severe effects of the illness - of which 61 are in ICU.
It comes as new data from the Covid-19 Geohive Hub shows the counties that recorded the highest incidence rates of the virus per 100,000 of the population in the third week of March.
Sligo was in the top spot on Tuesday, according to the latest data recording cases up to March 22, 2022.
The county has an incidence rate of 2394.1 per 100,000 of the population as the second wave of Omicron continues to rip through the community.
Making up the top three Covid hotspots at this point are Leitrim (1891.1) and Carlow (1832).
The rest of the regions in the top ten worst-hit areas are: Wicklow (1793.9), Galway (1748.1), Longford (1720), Waterford (1707.8), Mayo (1645.9), Westmeath (1633.4) and Kildare (1633.2).
These are followed by: Limerick (1620.3), Offaly (1591.8), Clare (1575.5), Laois (1573.8), Wexford (1550.9), Roscommon (1476.5), Tipperary (1456.6), Cork (1423.7), Louth (1417.6), Donegal (1405.8) and Kerry (1404.8).
Meanwhile, the five counties faring best with Covid-19 as we head towards the end of March are: Monaghan (1125.7), Kilkenny (1283.9), Meath (1325.3) Cavan (1348.2) and Dublin (1356.3).
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