Coronavirus test and tracing turnaround times in Ireland must improve, a senior health official has said.
The HSE’s chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said more work was needed to reduce the time between the ordering of a test to the completion of contact tracing, from the current median of five days.
Dr Henry said the turnaround for tests carried out on patients in hospital settings was around 24 hours but he said more complex cases, involving people in the community, were taking longer than they should.
The daily Covid-19 briefing heard that automation of the contact tracing process and steps to make health service computer systems compatible would help drive down the time.
Dr Henry’s comments came as chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said he was “hopeful” but “cautious” over whether Ireland’s lockdown exit plan would commence as scheduled on Monday.
Dr Holohan also confirmed that the public would be urged to wear face coverings in certain public settings, such as in shops or on public transport, as the country began to ease restrictions.
He also conceded that it could be 2022 until an effective vaccine for Covid-19 is available, if one is found at all.
On a day when Ryanair announced the reintroduction of 40% of services in July, Dr Holohan warned people against making holiday plans, insisting it would be unlikely that restrictions on non-essential travel would be lifted by mid-summer.
The CMO and his colleagues on the National Public Health Emergency Team are due to make a recommendation to the Government later this week on whether it should start rolling out the five-phase lockdown exit plan on May 18.
The effectiveness of the testing regime will be one of the factors considered. Health officials are hoping to be in a position to carry out 15,000 tests a day from next week.
Asked whether a five-day turnaround would undermine efforts to suppress the transmission of the disease, Dr Henry said the HSE was on course to reduce the time to four days and hoped to ultimately complete the process in three.
“We need to improve our performance in the more complex cases,” he added.
“The exercise itself is more complex by definition, we need to improve that performance and I can tell you there is a particular focus on that this week in the HSE to ensure that we align that performance with the less complex contact tracing so we can give assurance to people.
“We need to tighten this up… it needs to improve.”
The coronavirus death toll in Ireland rose to 1,488 today after a further 24 deaths were announced.
Another 107 positive cases were confirmed, taking the total since the outbreak began to 23,242.
Dr Holohan said progress was being made in efforts to suppress the disease, but he highlighted that around 70 people remained in intensive care with the infection and there were 600 people overall being treated in Ireland’s hospitals.
“I’m hopeful,” he said of the likelihood of a positive recommendation to Government. “But I’m to be cautious that we have further progress to make.”
Dr Holohan said the health service could be overwhelmed within three weeks if the easing of restrictions led to a surge in the transmission rate.
“So we have to be very cautious as we step our way through this that we don’t see a sudden change occurring,” he said.
“There is a very real risk if we collectively get this wrong. And I have to have to be clear about that.”
Dr Holohan has been flagging over recent weeks that it was likely face coverings would play a role in Ireland’s road map.
Today, he said: “We do see that in the community settings that there will be a role for face coverings that are not of medical grade.”
He declined to be drawn on Ryanair’s announcement on restoring 40% of flights in July but expressed concern about Irish people planning summer holidays.
“Our position at the moment, we’re advising against all non-essential travel and I don’t envisage that position will have changed within that timeframe,” he said.
Earlier today, the head of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) warned businesses not to reopen until they can comply with new safety protocols.
Dr Sharon McGuinness said firms should be sure they can protect their workers and customers before they reopen.
Meanwhile, a new Oireachtas committee examining the Government’s response to Covid-19 sat for the first time today.
The Oireachtas Covid-19 committee will look at how authorities and agencies have responded to the pandemic and take evidence on the state’s response.
The 19-member panel, set up last week, elected independent TD Michael McNamara as chairman.
The committee, which agreed to invite Dr Holohan and HSE boss Paul Reid to attend a meeting, will sit again next week.