We are now capable of testing 100k a week
THE health service has claimed it will have capacity to deal with 100,000 Covid-19 tests from this week.
HSE boss Paul Reid also said yesterday that from today, the aimed turnaround time from undergoing a test to getting a result will be two days or less.
Speaking at the HSE’s weekly Covid-19 conference, Mr Reid said 41 labs have been made available to reach the new targets.
Last week, around 35,000 swabs were taken for testing, while the average turnaround time from swabbing to completion was four days in the community and three days in hospitals.
Around 4,000 tests are currently being completed each day in Ireland. Of those, around 98% are testing negative.
The coronavirus death toll in Ireland has risen to 1,543 after 10 more deaths were announced by the National Public Health Emergency Team.
There were 64 new cases of the disease confirmed yesterday – the lowest since mid-March.
The total of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Ireland now stands at 24,112.
The latest HSE figures showed the virus’s prevalence continues on a downward trajectory.
Yesterday, there were 54 Covid-19 patients in ICU, down by 67% from the peak in mid-April when around 160 people were receiving intensive care treatment.
The overall coronavirus hospital admission rate is down 66% from the peak.
One new target is a threeday timeframe from the point of test referral to the completion of contact tracing, in 90% of positive cases. The other is a two-day turnaround from the point of the test swab being taken to the notification of the result.
That means of all people tested who return a negative result – currently 98% – they will be informed of that outcome within 48 hours.
Automation of the notification process is being introduced to speed up the timelines.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid also asked people to continue to comply with the revised regulations.
Mr Reid said the new Find My Test initiative has been launched to relocate cases that have ‘slipped through the net’.
The service allows GPs to contact the HSE through a dedicated centre. On Thursday and Friday, 80 cases were put through this system, 85% of which were resolved within 24 hours.
‘I think this is a really important service for the public, it’s a really important service for the GPs, and it’s an important service for us with the HSE because we want to understand exactly where some tests didn’t come through in the normal way in the speed that we would like,’ Mr Reid said.
Meanwhile, Leo Varadkar spoke to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday about
‘This is a really important service’
Ireland’s exit plan.
A Government statement said: ‘[Mr Varadkar] briefed her on the careful, gradual steps Ireland is taking to reopen its economy.
‘President von der Leyen set out her thinking on an EU Recovery Fund and on how the union’s budget can be mobilised to support sectors and regions affected by the crisis to build a greener, more resilient economy.
‘The Taoiseach stressed the vital role the agriculture sector can play in this and the importance of a properly funded CAP.
‘He also expressed his support for a co-ordinated approach at EU level to lifting restrictions on travel.’