Almost 60,000 young people between the age of 5 and 19 have been tested for Covid-19 since schools reopened at the end of August.
According to figures provided by the HSE to Nuacht, 31,138 children in the 5-12 age group were tested between the week ending 30 August and Sunday 27 September.
Of those, 488 - or 1.5% - tested positive. The second week of September was the busiest in terms of testing, with 14,400 in the week ending 13 September.
Although the number of children tested fell by almost a half in the past two weeks, figures show that 11% more children tested positive for the virus in that same period. Children aged 5-12 Tests Cases 30 August 2,826 52 06 September