Ireland's national 14-day incidence rate is the third lowest in the European Union according to the latest data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The data, updated on Thursday, shows Ireland (148.66) just behind Spain (143.31) in terms of the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19, while Portugal's incidence rate is half that of either country (71.09).
However, there is a delay in the ECDC's reporting which is updated once weekly, and according to a statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) on Thursday evening, the State's national incidence rate has increased to 159.5 cases per 100,000 people since the ECDC collected their data earlier this week.
The data, which covers 30 EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, shows Iceland, which is not an EU member state, has the lowest incidence rate of the virus, reporting 15.1 cases per 100,000 people.
Similarly, the principality of Liechtenstein also has a lower incidence than Ireland, recording a rate of 110.98.
Tightened measures across much of France appear justified by their rate of 562.05, while Germany's 194.83 cases per 100,000 comes amid chancellor Angela Merkel's u-turn on an Easter lockdown.
Dr Merkel had said Germany would increase restrictions once again between April 1st-5th, however, on Wednesday, she reversed the decision calling it a "mistake".
Estonia has the highest incidence rate among the EU/EEA countries, recording 1520.79 confirmed cases of the virus per 100,000, followed by the Czech Republic (1328.25) and Hungary (1145.7).
As incidence rates across the continent appear to be on the rise again, the EU's actions to secure more Covid-19 vaccines and tighten export criteria for doses leaving the bloc seems more urgent than ever, attempting to limit the impact of further surges of the virus.
