Thousands in Sligo and Dublin to give blood samples for virus antibody tests

THOUSANDS of people in Sligo and Dublin will be chosen to be the first groups in the country to provide blood samples to find out if they were infected with Covid-19.

The National Public Health Emergency Team picked the two counties for the first prevalence survey to try to measure what percentage of the population have had the infection.

Dublin was chosen because it has suffered the highest number of infections in the country, reaching 12,163 – nearly one in two of all cases so far.

Sligo has just recorded 128 cases, according to the latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.

The aim was to get a region badly affected and another which had low levels of infection.

The blood test will look for antibodies which are produced after a person who has had the infection has recovered.

The study is planned for this month and it is expected to involve a communications campaign to get a high participation.

The findings will indicate the level of immunity to the virus in the country, although it is still unclear how long this lasts due to it being a new virus.

Similar studies have been carried out in other countries and were seen as important in exiting lockdown.

Many people are believed to have had the virus here but, due to not suffering any symptoms, were unaware of it.

The latest development comes as figures released by the Department of Health yesterday showed an ongoing downturn in the impact of the virus.

A further five people died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 1,695.

There were 19 new cases of the virus diagnosed, leaving 25,231 infections here since the crisis started.

There are currently 102 patients with confirmed cases of Covid-19 in hospitals and, of these, 29 are in intensive care.

As of Monday, more than half the newly diagnosed cases were women with an average age of 48 years.

Of those for whom transmission status is known, around 60pc contracted it from another person who was positive for the virus.

This is reflective of increased mixing of people in work, leisure and in socialising since the first phase of the exit from lockdown started.

Around 38pc of people did not know where they picked up the virus.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said the National Public Health Emergency Team will meet today to review developments. It will look at the revised advice on face masks from the WHO, which has recommended wearing face masks or coverings by the public, including medical masks for people with underlying illness and those over 60.

The Covid-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel, which is looking at the handling of the coronavirus in nursing homes, is inviting written submissions as part of its work. It will make recommendations in light of the expected ongoing impact of Covid-19 with regard to nursing homes over the next 12 to 18 months.

The Department of Health said a dedicated submission form can be obtained online and can be returned to NHExpert_Panel@health.gov.ie.