A plan to scale up coronavirus testing and tracing every week is being launched today, HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said.
The Department of Health has set a target of 100,000 coronavirus tests per week, which the HSE hopes to reach by the middle of next month.
Mr Reid said ramping up testing and tracing is a “key part” of the strategy to enable restrictions to be lifted once it is decided and recommended by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and approved by Government.
He said: “This will involve a major plan to scale up our capacity and make some changes in processes, put some new community testing centers in place and ultimately deliver a higher volume.”
Mr Reid also said that the primary focus has been testing staff and residents in all long-term residential care places.
He added: “This has been a very important program and I’d like to thank the National Ambulance Service in conjunction with our community teams who have over the past week tested over 20,000 residents in those locations.
“We’re also launching many of our clinical assessment hubs all across the country and 20 clinical assessment hubs are now in place.
“These are a key part in a fight against Covid because it protects people from ending up in our hospital system.
“I am also conscious we’re continuously having challenges on PPE (personal protective equipment) but we are making good progress, with extra deliveries coming in from China.
“Recently, you will have seen an announcement from NPHET in terms of the use of masks for all healthcare workers.
“I would like to thank all of our staff for your responsiveness throughout the last few weeks as we’ve responded and prepared for Covid-19.
“I’d also like to acknowledge it’s been a very sad time as we’ve lost some healthcare workers through Covid-19 during this process.
“I’d like to send out my sincere condolences to their family and friends and it’s a very tough time for everyone indeed.
“This has been a very tough time for staff and we’re very conscious that our staff be very conscious of their mental health during issues that can cause a lot of concern for our staff.”
On Sunday, the Department of Health said there had been an additional 26 deaths, bringing the cumulative toll to 1,087.
Another 701 positive cases were confirmed, bringing the overall total to 19,262.