20,440 people are getting pandemic social welfare payments in Kerry this week.
That's according to the latest data from the Department of Social Protection.
This week (up to January 18th), 17,723 people in Kerry are getting the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
That is up 14% or 2,186 compared to the previous week when 15,537 people in the county got PUP as they had lost their job due to the pandemic.
Although it marks a significant jump, it is still far below the peak of 22,200 on May 5th last.
214 people in Kerry informed the department they were closing their PUP payment this week and returning to work; that is up from 78 the previous week.
The number of Kerry people on the Enhanced Illness Benefit due to having COVID-19 or self-isolating continues to rise.
This week, 2,717 people got the payment; that's up 205 from last week's figure.
