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Testing criteria for Covid-19 broadened

Updated / Tuesday, 5 May 2020 22:38
Eligibility for testing has changed
Eligibility for testing has changed

The testing criteria issued to GPs for Covid-19 have been broadened so that people will no longer need to be in an at-risk group to be eligible.

People only need to have sudden onset of a cough, fever or shortness of breath and no other cause that explains their illness in order to be eligible for testing.

Today, the Department of Health said that 23 more people had died after being diagnosed with the virus. It brings the total number to date to 1,339. 

211 more cases of the coronavirus have also been diagnosed in the Republic, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 21,983.

As of last Wednesday, 70% of people who contracted coronavirus have recovered.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said they were going to be cautious and conservative about reopening the country.

He said that if control was lost, there could be a significant challenge in the healthcare system and restrictions could be reintroduced.

The Chief Medical Officer also called on the public to preserve the progress that has been made in fighting Covid-19.

While restrictions were eased slightly today, Dr Holohan warned that the virus is still in the community and those infected face the same risk of serious illness as they did at the beginning of this pandemic. 

Dr Holohan said the National Public Health Emergency Team's advice was to ease restrictions on cocooners from today.

He said they wanted to do something for them although their advice was conservative and he said it was not their view that cocooning should stay in place until Phase 5 of the roadmap.

Asked about tensions with ministers, Dr Holohan said he had not come across any tension, his interactions had been straightforward.

He said he had not experienced any of what had been reported or any pressure.

He said: "We've been able to do our work."

He said the whole of their advice had been accepted by Government, including on cocooning.

"It simply isn't true," said Dr Holohan.

In Northern Ireland, a further 17 people have died from Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths in hospitals there to 404, according to the latest figures from the Northern Ireland Department of Health.

There was also 45 new cases of people testing positive for Covid-19 confirmed in the past 24 hours.

3, 881 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Northern Ireland, with the majority of cases in Belfast at 1,190.

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Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 will be a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical.

Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person and within two metres of them, to be considered at-risk, or a close contact.

Earlier today, the Tánaiste said the relationship between the Government and the National Public Health Emergency Team is "a fantastic one", despite reports to the contrary by some media over the weekend.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Simon Coveney said there was complete trust between the Government and Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and his team.

It came after reports that the Cabinet had overruled official advice on over-70s cocooning until later this summer.

When asked if NPHET advised not allowing people cocooning to leave their homes until August, Mr Coveney said: "No, that wasn't the advice."

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Meanwhile, the National Bus and Rail Union has called for public transport passengers to be obliged to wear face masks and workers to have temperature checks in the interests of health and safety.

The union is also seeking "vetting personnel" at Irish airports to ensure transport workers servicing them are not exposed to travellers from abroad who might be at risk. 

In a letter to the National Transport Authority and the main transport companies entitled 'Lockdown Easement', General Secretary Dermot O'Leary warned that while some elements of society will be able to cope with the relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions, public transport will encounter significant difficulties, "not least due to the constraints associated with fleet capacity".

The union is seeking the continuation of social distancing guidelines, as well as current disinfecting and cleaning regime at Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Irish Rail, adding "with a similar regime required at Go-Ahead Ireland". 

Stop the spread graphic

Elsewhere, Dublin parks are to have special times reserved for over 70s and other cocooners from tomorrow.

The measure is being introduced to cover more than 100 green spaces across the four local authority areas.

The parks will be reserved between the hours of 1.30pm and 3.30pm for over 70s and those who have been cocooning because of serious underlying medical conditions.

Cocooners are being advised to go out for "short walks" but to avoid personal contact and to maintain social distancing.

The move comes as the Exchequer announced a deficit of €7.473 billion in April, more than double the deficit of €3.192bn recorded in April of last year.

Spending to the end of April was up €2.4bn, or 13.5%, on where it was planned to be, primarily due to Covid-19 related expenditure by the Department of Health and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

Tax receipts in April were down 8%, or €223m, on the same month last year.

Tax receipts in the year to April were down 0.6%, or €86m.

Today's data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), as of midnight, Sunday 3 May (21,659 cases), shows that 58% of cases are female and 42% are male.

The data also shows that the median age of confirmed cases is 49 years.

Of the 21,659 cases, 2,879 cases (13%) have been hospitalised.

Of those hospitalised, 369 cases have been admitted to ICU. 

6,293 of confirmed cases are associated with healthcare workers.

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 10,670 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,280 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,177 cases (5%).

As of midnight last night, 214,761 tests have been carried out.

Over the past week, 61,707 tests were carried out and, of those, 2,280 were positive, giving a positivity rate of 3.7%.

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