The opening of five new walk-in Covid-19 testing centres for people with no symptoms represents the first large-scale attempt to hunt down the virus in the community.
As the county with the highest 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 in the country, Offaly is one of the locations with a pop-up centre.
Steady streams of people have been arriving at the centre in the car park of the Tullamore Leisure Centre since it opened this morning, with a definite increase in numbers into the afternoon.
The centres were set up and are operated by the National Ambulance Service.
The Health Service Executive says around one in five people have no symptoms and can spread the virus without knowing and that testing people with no symptoms will help to find cases earlier and to stop the spread of the virus.
Dr Una Fallon, who is the director of Public Health for the HSE in this region, said today that the purpose of the testing is to get a "snapshot of asymptomatic infection in the community" and that they don't know whether this will show a low or high rate of infection.
The other four locations of the centres are in Dublin at Blanchardstown, Tallaght, Irishtown and Grangegorman.
Anyone aged over 16, who lives within 5km of a centre, can come along for testing - particularly those who might be worried about Covid-19 for one reason or another. Testing is free and no appointment is necessary.
People who want to get tested need a mobile phone number and photo ID.
There are only two groups who should not come to these centres: those with symptoms, and people who have had Covid-19 in the last six months.
A number of people who came to the Tullamore facility for testing today had various reasons for doing so, including underlying conditions, local outbreaks, and general anxiety about the virus.
Christine Cutler decided to come because she has asthma and thinks that it's a great idea to be tested.
"I'd like to know one way or the other, and please god it will be good news", she said.
"It will give you peace of mind because you're listening to the news every day and wondering where the vaccines are and I know I'm down the line, I will get one at some stage.
"It's a great idea, anyone I've been talking to on our street said they will come."
Her husband, Christie, has heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
"I hope everybody else comes down and gets themselves tested, make sure everything is alright with them. It will help an awful lot to know what's going on or not, where it is, how big it is", he said.
Damian Delaney said he was worried about the high level of transmission in the community.
"I decided to come down and get tested just in case I'm asymptomatic and I could be spreading it around, nobody knows. I think it's a great idea and more should be set up around the country", he said.
Paul Molloy had another reason, having recently returned from having dental surgery in Bulgaria.
"I came home and I quarantined. That is over now, and I have to go for a Covid test. It would cost me about €140, so this is free and I came here instead", he said.
Fionnuala Galvin says she is medically vulnerable and has barely left the house all year.
"The incidence rates in Tullamore are so high that even going out to the chemist or to the shops is stressful when you don't know who is infected. I think it's a fantastic initiative, it's a great service and people should avail of it", she said.
It takes just a few minutes to register on arrival and another few short minutes to have the swabs taken. Then people can expect to get their results in 24-48 hours.
Each walk in centre has the capacity to carry out 300-500 swabs per day and they will operate between 11am and 7pm every day for the next seven days.
