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Almost 40% of care home residents in Northern Ireland have been tested for coronavirus, Robin Swann has said.<\/p>\nAlmost 40% of care home residents in Northern Ireland have been tested for coronavirus, Robin Swann has said.<\/p>\n
The health minister also revealed that 4,950 care home workers have been tested.<\/p>\n
It comes after Mr Swann announced on Sunday his department was in a position to make testing available to all care home residents and staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have carried out 64,000 tests for Covid-19 within our own HSC labs and a further 14,000 as part of the national testing program,\u201d he told the Northern Ireland Executive\u2019s daily press conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs of this morning, there have been 4,950 residents tested, that\u2019s almost 40% of the entire care home population.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition there have also been 4,816 of our care home workers tested.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Swann also announced that contact tracing was being undertaken for confirmed positive cases of Covid-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have tested the processes for contact tracing and as of from yesterday we have undertaking contact tracing for all confirmed positive cases of Covid-19.\u201d<\/p>\n
The service is now operating seven days each week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be a major commitment as we expect this service to be in place for the next year at a minimum,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether we can prevent the spread of infection and keep people safe as we move out of lockdown.\u201d<\/p>\n