Athlone's pop-up Covid test centre to close later this week

A pop-up Covid-19 testing centre in Athlone, which has been in operation at the former St Aloysius College on Tuesdays and Fridays during the last three weeks, is due to close after testing this Friday.

The HSE said this morning (Wednesday) that it has no plans to continue testing in Athlone next week.

A spokesperson said 139 people were tested for the virus at the Athlone centre yesterday (Tuesday), which was a slight decrease on the 146 people tested there last Friday.

The latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, up to midnight on Monday, showed that the 14-day incidence rate of the virus per 100,000 people was slightly above the national average in Roscommon but below the national average in Westmeath.

There were 323 confirmed cases of the virus in Roscommon over the previous fortnight, and 281 cases in Westmeath.

The national 14-day incidence rate was 422.5 cases per 100,000 population, while in Roscommon it was 500.4, and in Westmeath it was 316.5.