Technical issues and bugs slowing Covid-19 testing and tracing in Ireland

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Ireland’s testing and tracking system for Covid-19 has been delayed by a number of technical issues, including data entry errors, lack of automation, and systems that cannot interact with each other.

These issues, including the absence of unique patient identifiers and a system for laboratory information management, have pushed the time frame for testing and tracing beyond expert recommendations.

Health chiefs Tuesday night defended progress, but promised improvement.

“There is no single fundamental problem,” said Cillian De Gascun, chairman of the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group. He said errors occurred during manual processes, while a lack of data had also slowed progress, including missing contact details for GPs or patients.

Hospitals also operate on different computer systems.

“Not everyone talks to each other… So it takes time to build it and make sure it’s robust. We don’t have a unique patient identifier yet, we don’t have a national laboratory information management system.”

HSE hopes to automate some processes by next Monday, including informing close contacts that they have been in contact with a confirmed case.

Half time

Dr Colm Henry, clinical director of HSE, said that a “vast majority” of people who are referred for the test are taken in a day and a half. The median time between the start of cleanup and contact tracing, he said, was five days and was dropping. More complex cases, such as those involving healthcare workers who would be in contact with a large number of vulnerable people, or people who do not speak English, or in some cases have died, were also affecting response times.

A medium-term plan for a contact monitoring and testing system is expected to cost around € 500 million.

However, he was unable to indicate when the process will be completed within 72 hours, generally seen by experts as the upper limit by which the process must be completed.

Dr. De Gascun said: “We know we need to improve, but it is a great improvement from where we were,” he said. Last night, another 107 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, the lowest number since March 21, along with 24 other deaths. The total death toll is now 1,488, with 23,242 confirmed cases.

Elsewhere, a medium-term plan for a contact testing and tracking system is expected to cost around € 500 million. This is in addition to the € 1 billion annual invoice for personal protective equipment at the HSE. Sources said the 500 million euros include the cost of the swabs for evaluating individuals and laboratory tests. It is also likely to include IT upgrade costs.

Defense forces

It may take around 1,000 employees in the future to track. Currently, Defense Forces personnel and Revenue Commissioners personnel are involved. The sources said that at some point they would return to their substantive roles, demanding that new personnel enter.

Last Sunday, HSE chief Paul Reid said a “future model” of testing and tracing is needed, beyond the current “wartime model.” The Health Department said Tuesday night that the board agreed to the HSE testing plan and that implementation was underway.

Estimated costs will be subject to review by the Department of Health, the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditures, and will subsequently be submitted to the Government for approval.

Elsewhere, a panel of scientific experts warned that the UK government’s decision to exempt Irish visitors from a planned 14-day quarantine is a “serious legal vacuum.” The group, chaired by former chief scientific adviser David King, warned: “It will be perfectly possible for someone to fly from somewhere where the level of infection is extremely high, such as New York, to Dublin and then change planes to travel to London. “

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