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:

Yes. We are currently modelling out future demand and it depends absolutely on the performance of the virus. We are modelling it out through the winter. If the virus keeps running the way it is at the minute, we will need more excess capacity in our labs and that is a process we are continuously looking at and engaging on. We will increase capacity in our labs should the virus continue to perform the way it is. It is very difficult to put a number on this one because it is related to the performance of the disease. What we want to do is pull the performance of the disease down; it is a significant big issue for us but we are looking at capacity in labs.