Dr. Cillian De Gascun:

This comes under the auspices of the HSE so I do not have oversight of the entire pathway. However, my understanding is that the target was for 90% of tests to be completed within three days and I think Paul Reid said it was at 82% or 83% earlier in the week.

Again, the testing in and of itself does not control the infection. If people develop symptoms and have had a test they have to self-isolate and not transmit the infection onwards.

In essence, while three days is important and is a very good target, the reason we want to get to that timeline is because we want to prevent the contacts of the index case transmitting the virus onwards. If I have the infection today, there is no saving me. My immediate contacts from yesterday and today are the group we are trying to contain. We want to prevent my contacts from transmitting the virus and that is where the three to four days comes from. We know the average incubation period for this virus is in or around five days. Some will be shorter and some will be longer - it can be up to two weeks.

It is important that we get results quickly, but the primary way people can prevent themselves from transmitting infection is by self-isolating and not having contact with others. If I am symptomatic, I need to present quickly. I need to contact my GP today and get tested. A lot of the sampling today is a same-day or next-day process. That means I can let the people with whom I have been in contact know that I have had a swab taken and that they should consider themselves potential close contacts, and that they should self-isolate for a couple of days until I get my result. The testing in and of itself does not control the infection. We need to try to get the message out to people that ultimately it is the physical distancing, self-isolation and identifying symptoms early which are important.

The reason we want people to contact their GP and be sampled early is purely because they are eating into the days when contacts have not been informed. If I sit at home for three days waiting for this to get better, my contacts could potentially be transmitting the virus onwards. That is what we are trying to address with a very short turnaround time. We need people, once they are symptomatic, to present for care as early as possible.