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Coronavirus Ireland: HSE boss says plans agreed to ramp up Covid-19 testing to 100,000-per-week

Paul Reid warns health service will be dealing with coronavirus for 'quite a long period of time'

A nurse and doctor at the end of their shift in a corridor of the level intensive care unit at the San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images) Expand

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A nurse and doctor at the end of their shift in a corridor of the level intensive care unit at the San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

A nurse and doctor at the end of their shift in a corridor of the level intensive care unit at the San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

A nurse and doctor at the end of their shift in a corridor of the level intensive care unit at the San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Cormac McQuinn Twitter

HSE boss Paul Reid has said that plans have been agreed to ramp up coronavirus testing to 100,000 tests per week.

It comes as this number of tests is seen as a key factor in the easing of restrictions on everyday life.

His remarks come amid reports that the HSE was concerned about the announcement of the 100,000-a-week target and their capacity to deliver this.

Mr Reid has also warned that the health service will be dealing with coronavirus for "quite a long period of time".

He said that the HSE will have to look at the delivery of healthcare through a "very different lens" as a result.

Hospitals will have to focus on protecting the public from Covid-19 while delivering other service in a "very new way."

He said this will continue "well into 2021" and the model of healthcare is going to have to be "not just a war-time response to Covid-19.

Mr Reid confirmed that he did raise concerns about the ability of the HSE to scale up testing to 100,000-per-week.

He also said it would be naive to think that there would never be tensions between the HSE and Department of Health but insisted that are "very constructive tensions".

He said his concerns related to testing turnaround time, how to scale up lab analysis and the timing of achieving the 100,000-a-week target.

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Mr Reid said there were discussions about those concerns and the HSE agreed a paper with the Department that is to go to Cabinet this week.

He said: "We now have a shared road-map" on how to reach 100,000 tests.

Mr Reid said that the testing can be scaled up to 100,000-per-week by about the third week of May.

More to follow...

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Editorial Opinion Let us see the light at end of the tunnel

It will be two months this week since the first case of coronavirus, Covid-19, was diagnosed in Ireland. The days seem to have passed slowly but time has moved apace all the same. Depending on the relative circumstances of our isolation, many will be surprised that it has been a full two months since that case came to light. Much has happened since, not least the tragic deaths of more than 1,000 people, most of them elderly, infirm and unwell and many with underlying illnesses. Their deaths have left a void inside the lives of family and friends, the pain of their passing exacerbated by the specific circumstances in each case and the inability to mourn and grieve according to the comforting rituals of this country. In due time there should be a national commemoration to mark this great loss and to acknowledge the suffering of those left behind. In time, but first the country must come through the next phase of what is a great national trauma.

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