Covid testing system expected to remain under major pressure in coming days

The Covid-19 testing system in Ireland is expected to remain under major pressure in the coming days, a senior health official has said.

It comes as one teaching union has called for a re-think on the full re-opening of schools, ahead of a meeting with Education Minister Norma Foley.

The Government’s party leaders are also expected to meet today (January 4) to discuss the ongoing Covid-19 situation.

Senior HSE director Damien McCallion said today that there continues to be a “huge demand” for PCR testing as Ireland copes with record levels of Covid-19 cases.

He predicted that the testing system, which now has a capacity of 650,000 tests a week when PCR and antigen testing is combined, will remain “under strain” for at least a week.

Mr McCallion acknowledged that the actual level of cases are probably much higher than that recorded by the PCR testing system.

“There are definitely higher numbers of the disease out there,” he said.

“We’re seeing this globally with all testing systems under strain given the high transmissibility of this particular variant.”

Mr McCallion also confirmed that there were 30,000 registrations on the first day of vaccine registration for children aged five to 11.

“I think what our experience tells us from looking at the 12 to 17 uptake is that it’s a much slower process and we understand that because parents will want to have the information, they will want to talk to their child, consult with others, perhaps.

“And what we would encourage parents to do is to do that, to look at trusted sources of information – that’s really important.”

Mr McCallion also said that be believed Ireland has a sufficient supply of antigen testing.

“We certainly have sufficient numbers on the supply chain through January. So we’re hoping that we’ll get through, but like all of our systems, as demand increases, that’s something we’ll have to track and monitor on an almost daily basis at the moment,” he told RTE radio.

Later today, teaching unions will meet with the education minister to discuss the re-opening of schools.

Government ministers have insisted that despite the high case numbers, schools will re-open as normal on Thursday.

The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) has called for a staggered approach to the re-opening of schools, given the high level of the virus in the community. 

General Secretary Kieran Christie said on Tuesday that there could be “chaos” in some schools in the days to come without some kind of review and revision, given the threat that the Omicron variant poses.

The union wants HEPA filters and medical grade masks to be made available in schools.

Michael Gillespie, general secretary of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), said that “one size does not fit all”.

“I think we are going to have schools that may be able to fully open on Thursday because we don’t know the actual effect in each school.

“We could have a school where there might be 20% of the staff missing and they may have been able to source some, and there may be no effect.

“But there may be schools that have 25% or 30% missing and then tough decisions may have to be made in those schools.

“We’re talking about being based on a school-by-school basis, as opposed to a one size fits all across the country.”

He added: “I think it is important that every school opens with whatever restrictions that may have to be applied based on the staffing that’s available.

“A school has to open and it has to be open, not just with the health and safety about Covid but other health and safety restrictions there.

“There has to be teachers to teach in front of class.”

Colm O Rourke, principal of St Patrick’s Classical School in Navan in Meath, said that schools should be opened “on hope rather than fear”.

“The realities of the school situation is that teachers of exam subjects may be out more than other classes, so each school would be better to make judgments themselves on a day-to-day basis on what you are able to bring in, and I would hope that we would be able to bring in everybody,” he added.