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The rate of testing for Covid-19 has increased to 12,000 a day and the target of 100,000 tests a week will be achieved by mid-May, according to HSE chief executive Paul Reid.
By last Friday, 176,000 tests had been completed for the disease, placing Ireland among the top five or six countries in Europe for testing, Mr Reid said at a media briefing on Sunday morning.
He said the 12,000 tests completed last Friday meant the HSE has exceeded its plans for ramping up testing for that date. Testing has now been completed in 80 per cent of nursing homes, I have added.
Tests are now being processed in 40 laboratories, including 35 in hospitals. Last Friday, an agreement was signed with Germany labs which will provide a daily capacity of 5,000 tests, Mr Reid told the briefing.
Mr Reid said by May 18th, the day Ireland will begin re-opening under a roadmap which contains five phases, tests would be at the target of 100,000 a week and results would be available within three days of referral and within two days of the swab having been taken.
Ireland’s coronavirus testing strategy has been dogged by delays for both appointments and the time taken to get results. Efficient testing and contact tracing is seen as crucial to the lifting of restrictions on movement currently in place.
Meanwhile, Health Service Executive data released on Saturday night shows there were fewer than 100 people in intensive care units with confirmed coronavirus.
The HSE’s daily operations update released last night shows 98 people were in these units across the country and a further 22 people with suspected cases of Covid-19 were being treated in intensive care.
The equivalent figures were 99 and 21 on Friday and 105 and 18 the day before meaning the number of confirmed cases in intensive care is below 100 for the second day running.
Doctors treat a coronavirus patient i in the intensive care unit of the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York on Monday. Photograph: Victor J Blue / The New York Times
A total of 67 confirmed cases and 10 suspected cases were being ventilated, the data shows and a total of 131 critical care beds were available last night.
A further 25 people diagnosed with Covid-19 have died, the National Public Health Emergency Team disclosed on Saturday. There have now been a total of 1,286 deaths associated with the disease in Ireland, it said. Another 343 new confirmed cases were also reported.
This brings the total number of cases to 21,176. This is the fifth day in a row that the increase in the number of new cases has been 2 per cent or lower.
The HSE data also show Dublin’s Mater hospital has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with 104 patients as of 8pm last night, followed by St James’s (76), Tallaght (69), Beaumont (67) and St Vincent’s (64). The highest number of confirmed cases in a hospital outside Dublin is in Limerick where there are 41 patients.
The HSE is giving a further update at a briefing on Sunday morning.
Travel ‘not looking good’
On Saturday Minister for Health Simon Harris raised doubts about the possibility of people being able to travel overseas this year, saying that it was “not looking good”.
I’ve advised people not to leave the island of Ireland this year and said that it was looking highly unlikely that people could take foreign holidays this year. Mr Harris told RTÉ that any incoming travelers had to self-isolate for 14 days as a precaution to prevent the spread of the virus and that other countries had similar restrictions in place.
In-bound visitors had to complete a Public Health Passenger Locator form, which had to contain their contact details and address at which they will be self-isolating.
Mr Harris said the Taoiseach had asked some Ministers to assess with the Attorney General whether this needed to be supported by regulations. I added that a decision would be made on this over the coming weeks.
The Minister disclosed that as of Saturday afternoon, there had been 169,377 tests for Covid-19 carried out and that the State was carrying out more testing per head of population than many other countries.
Lockdown exit plan
Ireland is preparing for another two weeks of restrictions, put in place in March, in an effort to combat the virus. However, a phased lifting of the restrictions on Irish life will begin on May 18th, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced on Friday evening.
Speaking at Government Buildings in his live televised address, Mr Varadkar warned that beginning the opening-up of the country too soon could result in “going back to square one”, with a rise in the number of cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
Should the progress in containing the virus continue, he said, the Government would begin to ease the restrictions on May 18th in five phases, three weeks apart, each dependent on the success of the previous one. He warned that if any stage resulted in a “second wave” of the virus, restrictions would be reimposed.
Read full details of the Government plan here.
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