Councillor calls for return of testing centre to Athlone
A local councillor is calling on TDs in the region to put pressure on the HSE to locate a Covid-19 testing centre in Athlone.
A test centre was established in what was then AIT from April to July 2020, but since then people in this area seeking a test have been required to travel to Mullingar, Castlerea in Roscommon, or further afield.
Now Cllr Jamie Moran said the rising number of Covid-19 cases has brought the need for a test centre in Athlone back into focus.
He said many people have mentioned the issue to him, arguing that it was not sensible that the largest town in the midlands did not have a testing centre.
Cllr Moran said the lack of a testing centre in Athlone meant that possible positive cases were having to travel or arrange lifts to access a test. He suggested this was discouraging people from getting tested and meant the “full picture of the amount of cases there are in the community” is not emerging.
“I am calling for our TDs to make this happen. They come to Athlone when cameras are here so let us see action on this for the people who want to do right thing when it comes to COVID.”
Most recent figures show that the number of new positive cases in the wider Athlone area were generally below the national average over the most recent fortnight.
In the Athlone electoral area of Westmeath there have been 54 new cases in the fourteen days between October 5 and October 18.
This equates to a 14-day rate per 100,000 of 238 – less than half the national average of 493 per 100,000.
The number of cases in the Moate area is also below the national average on a population basis. There were 78 new cases in Moate during the two week period. This represents a rate per 100,000 of 422.9.
Across the county border, in Roscommon, the level of cases in the Athlone electoral area over the most recent fortnight is above the national trend.
A 14-day rate per 100,000 of 500.5 (slightly above the national average of 493) was recorded after 100 new positive cases were reported.
The figures also revealed that the area around Longford town had the highest rate of Covid-19 in the country.
There were 199 cases in that electoral area in the fortnight – giving a rate of 199 per 100,000.
Official HSE figures also show there were 10 patients with Covid-19 in Tullamore hospital at 8pm on Monday night, ten in Portiuncula and nine in Mullingar.
Another three suspected cases were in Mullingar, and two each in Portiuncula and Tullamore.
At 10am on Monday, there were two available ICU beds in Portiuncula but none in Mullingar or Tullamore hospitals.
Meanwhile, the HSE has announced that it will be holding three walk-in Covid-19 vaccination clinics in Moate over the coming days.
The clinics will be held in Moate Community Centre tomorrow (Wednesday, October 27); Thursday, October 28; and Sunday, October 31.
The times of the clinics each day are as follows: Wednesday, 3.30pm to 5pm; Thursday, 3pm to 5pm; and Sunday, 12 noon to 3pm.
At the weekend, HSE chief executive Paul Reid tweeted that it was "encouraging" to see "more and more people" coming to get vaccinated.
He said more than 10,000 vaccinations had been administered in Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 over the previous four days, with half of these people attending on a walk-in basis.