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One of the country’s main laboratories used to process coronavirus tests has said that it will not be able to operate for the next two weekends due to “unavoidable staff shortages.”
In a notice posted on its website, the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) said it would not be able to process Covid-19 tests during the upcoming holiday weekend, including Monday.
The laboratory would also not be able to operate on Saturday and Sunday next weekend, October 31 and November 1, the notice said.
The interruption of testing over the two weekends at the University College Dublin (UCD) laboratory was the result of an “inevitable staff shortage,” the notice said.
The notice, published Thursday, apologized for the “late notice and any inconvenience this may cause.”
A health source said that Enfer, a private facility in Naas, was expected to be able to cover the shortfall in testing capacity due to the closure of the UCD laboratory over the two weekends.
In the Dáil People Before Profit, TD Richard Boyd Barrett read the notice from the UCD-based laboratory, adding that the government failed to recruit enough people to develop testing capacity to the degree necessary to combat Covid-19.
“In the same way, if the infection rate increases, we have a lot to do to trace close contacts.
“The people who failed to do that are the people responsible for the situation we are in now.”
Louise O’Reilly from Sinn Féin said she was very upset to learn that the lab could not process the swabs.
He asked if Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was aware of the NVRL notification and asked him to explain the steps taken to ensure the processing of the evidence.
Ms. O’Reilly said that “we have already seen the disaster with tracking, but testing is absolutely essential.”
She added: “I want to ask what efforts have been made to address the staff shortage, the fact that there is a staff shortage at the National Virus Reference Laboratory is very concerning, but I want to know what is being done to ensure that the problem will be addressed and that staff will be available. “
More to follow
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