By 
Dire predictions over the potential for Christmas gatherings to become super-spreader events for coronavirus, have become reality, borne out in the latest statistics which shows that the rate of infection has tripled in the Mid Ulster area.
Mid Ulster which covers large parts of south Tyrone now has 941 cases per 100,000 of population – the worst affected area in the North – and more than three the times the figure of 303 for the previous week. Over the last seven days, the area has seen a staggering 1,389 new positive cases.
In Fermanagh and Omagh, the rate of infection is now 619 cases per 100,000, while in Derry and Strabane that figure is now 738. Both of these council areas have seen the infection rate more than double over the last week.
The figures were released on Monday, as further lockdown measures were being considered.