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All people over the age of 16 who live within 3 miles of a walk-in Covid-19 testing center are encouraged to come in and get tested.
A total of 1,600 people came to five testing centers across the country today for a test.
Dr. Miriam Owens, a public health specialist at Nphet, said tonight that everyone who lives within 3 miles of a testing center should go get tested, even if they are not concerned about contracting the virus.
Due to the large volumes of asymptomatic cases, he said we do not know “who is with Covid” and it can be infectious.
“One person can lead to two or three more contacts being withdrawn from circulation. There are two or three more cases that we will not see.
“Anyone who wants to come, we will not turn anyone away,” he added.
Those who are over the age of 16, have no symptoms, and have not had the virus in the past six months can enter for a free trial.
Those with symptoms that concern them should contact their GP.
“It was encouraging to see a fairly young population group, between 20 and 45 years old, looking the same as the people there.
“That’s the cohort of people that we are trying to relate to,” he told Independent.ie.
There are also plans for more centers in more locations, the need for which will be assessed in a week.
However, Dr. Owens said it “doesn’t make sense” to put them in every village in the country, as they will be designed to target virus blackheads.
“At this stage it is for a week, but in the next few days we will be saying where there are spots, black spots as we call them and the best places to place them.
“It makes no sense to put them in all towns and cities, because there will be no demand, there will be no need.
“We go where the need is greatest and where the disease risk is greatest,” he said.
The need for the five testing centers that are now open will be reviewed in a week and the results of those who were tested today will be released on Saturday.
“Every day we will evaluate acceptance, but the idea is that we see where they are needed,” added Dr. Owens.
The five walk-in testing centers are currently located at the Tallaght Stadium in South West Dublin, the Irishtown Stadium near the city center, the Mr Price car park at the Blanchardstown Center and the Primary Care Center in Grangegorman and the car park Spollens on the High Street in Tullamore, County Offaly.
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