Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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785. To ask the Minister for Health the status of testing and tracing capacity here; the extent to which demand is pressing on available resources; the planned additional resources anticipated to be allocated as part of development planning; the extent to which resources are deployed for precautionary testing as opposed to testing in cases in which suspected symptoms have been identified; and the level of such precautionary capacity that will be needed as travel and other activities open with appropriate safety protocols [25233/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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A comprehensive, reliable and responsive testing and tracing operation is central to our public health strategy for containing and slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Capacity has been in place since early summer to test 15,000 people a day. While the system did come under pressure in recent weeks, overall the system is working well and is proving central to our public health response. Rigorous contact tracing, automatic testing of close contacts, serial testing in high risk environments and large-scale testing in outbreak situations means we are proactively finding more cases than we would have previously.

In recent weeks the HSE has needed to flex resources up significantly as demand has increased. It is testing more people than ever before, with over 80,000 tests completed in the week ending 20th September. Community testing has increased in line with a steady increase in the prevalence of the disease and the HSE has deployed additional resources to meet this increased demand. This included the opening of additional community testing centres and mobile pop-up testing units, significantly increased contact tracing teams and increased laboratory testing.

Our testing strategy and infrastructure compares well internationally. We are in the top third of EU countries in terms of tests completed as % of the overall population and capacity levels and turnaround times are similar to many countries. We are also going further than many other countries in pursuing a robust testing strategy, which includes testing of close contacts, and serial testing in nursing homes and food processing facilities.

That is not to say that we can’t improve further and I do acknowledge that the system has come under strain in recent weeks. The HSE is now finalising a future service model for testing and tracing. This service model will aim to deliver a patient-centred, accessible, consistent and flexible service. This plan includes the recruitment of a permanent workforce which has already commenced, and a range of other service improvements which will be rolled out quickly. Transition to the new model is underway and will continue through the Autumn.

We are working closely with the European Commission and other members states of the EU to agree a common approach to international travel. This includes consideration of the need to ensure that the establishment of any travel-related testing does not impact on the testing and tracing of symptomatic patients and serial testing of high-risk groups or workplace environments as recommended by NPHET from time to time.