Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Special Committee on Covid-19 Response
Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State
Mr. Paul Reid:
The capacity that we utilise at the moment is a range of GP referrals, close contacts and serial testing. There is also a range of positivity levels through which I brought the committee previously. That is a whole range of demand that we are meeting right now. We are looking forward to the winter in the case of the further transmission of the virus and the need to increase both laboratory capacity and swabbing centres. There is a level at which any European country will get overwhelmed by the cases, and I will ask Dr. Colm Henry to comment on that. The point I want to make to the public is that we will build up testing and tracing. It is not a coat of armour for society to protect us all against the virus. We will continue to-----