Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 3 November 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed)

Dr. Cillian De Gascun:

That is why the public health measures are so important. We know that people can transmit before the onset of symptoms and we know that the vast majority of people will become symptomatic. If people follow the public health guidance we can capture most of those individuals. We could stop people who have an RNA detected test at the point of testing from getting on the plane. That is certainly a useful component but the other element of this is that we are using diagnostic tests that are intended to be used in symptomatic people in a way in which they were not originally intended so the performance will be sub-optimal. We will generate inaccurate results also because we know that, in terms of the sensitivity of the test, no test is perfect. Depending on where the people involved are in their illness and on where the virus is in their respiratory tract, and we have heard of cases in hospital where the first couple of tests-----