Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Special Committee on Covid-19 Response
Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed)
Dr. Siobhán Kennelly:
It is very hard to say that, with all due respect. We have looked at the international evidence. The first published report that really reflected the high prevalence of asymptomatic transmission, particularly in congregated settings, was on 27 March in the New England Journal of Medicine. That is how quickly things have been evolving in this pandemic. We know we had testing of asymptomatic residents in our mass testing exercise, which took place on 14 April. It is very difficult to say because we do not know what the mortality looks like in terms of patients who have tested positive but who were asymptomatic. Clearly, we are going to have to look at the staff testing protocols, how that is to be done on a regular basis and how that situation gets managed from here. That is what the national testing strategy is going to inform in the coming weeks.
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