Dr. Siobhán Kennelly:

I thank the Deputy. Ms O'Neill has covered most of the points I would have made. Serial testing has made a significant impact on our ability to pick up asymptomatic infection, in particular on this round. The primary driver of the increased rates we saw was the very high rates of community transmission and the fact that our staff who work and live in community settings are unfortunately able to bring the virus with them into care settings and that causes difficulty.

The issues which have been highlighted through the nursing home expert panel report in terms of the risks that are posed by congregated settings for frail, older and vulnerable groups have not gone away. We will need to look fundamentally at the model of care in terms of provision for vulnerable groups and how they can be best cared for into the future.