Two wards at the Ballinasloe Hospital have been affected by the norovirus outbreak.

They say they were forced to stay in the caravan because they had to leave their rental home last February.

Those figures are up from 528 compared to February 2023.

In many cases the delay in physical discharge was the result of a lack of step down beds or care facility openings.

Speaking to the Joe Finnegan Show today, Senator Eugene Murphy has urged the family to get in touch with his office.

The local authority says it can only place the family in a five-bedroomed house, but said no such property was currently available.

The majority of incidents happened during the day, with just 18 logged as having occurred at night time in an unlit area.

They are investigating the discharge of a firearm in Ballinasloe last Friday and a burglary of a jewellery shop in Athlone last month.