Tag Archives: coronavirus

CEO of the HSE Paul Reid; text tweeted by Mr Reid last night

This morning.

RTÉ broadcaster Audrey Carville told Morning Ireland listeners that due to a global shortage of material used in laboratories to carry out coronavirus tests, called reagent, just 1,500 tests are being processed a day in Ireland – leading to a significant delay in test results.

Despite this, the deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn last night said the Irish health authorities are still aiming to carry out between 10,000 and 15,000 tests within the next two weeks.

Also last night the CEO of the HSE Paul Reid tweeted a plea for the public to bear with the HSE as it sought to “fix this”.

His tweet followed the HSE apologising to those waiting for test results. This apology came after a nursing home resident who was tested for Covid-19 on March 23 died on Tuesday night. Their test result had not come through by the time of their death.

Further this this, Mr Reid spoke to Seán O’Rourke on RTÉ this morning that the HSE was chasing around the world for reagent.

From their discussion…

Seán O’Rourke: “It would appear, Paul though that perhaps the answer to that particular problem with the reagent is under our noses in the Irish pharma companies. According to the Irish Times, and we’ll be talking to one of their representatives in a little while, that can actually be done here in Ireland?”

Paul Reid: “Yeah, well, when I did, which is being quoted, the message I sent out last night, which was asking the public to bear with us because there will be a few strands to the solution for this which we were working throughout the night on and it’s a combination of, firstly, we have secured, literally overnight, the capacity to transfer some of the queue that we have for testing to a very, reputable international organisation based in Europe.

“And that will start to address the queue that we already have. That’s the first solution that we have.”

Later

Reid: “The industry is telling us the increase that they have seen and the [global] demand for these reagents has gone up by over 1,000% in the last few days.”

O’Rourke: “Yeah but did we not have first move or advantage? We woke up to this thing at least we were told we were ahead of the game, ahead of those other countries, certainly the United States?”

Reid: “We were and we have been and we continue to be in terms of our testing volumes that we’re doing and we want to stay there and it is a very difficult one for us and we are working on those, three solutions, three very different solutions – getting some of it tested abroad, some supply of kit from China that will take a week to ten days to come through, with some risk associated with it, and equally, in negotiations, right throughout today, right throughout all yesterday, calls later with Irish pharma companies, to see the capacity of their supply to significantly ramp up and help us with this really national crisis.”

O’Rourke: “What’s your best guess or best estimate, this is about more than guessing obviously, for where we will be at in the numbers being tested and with those tests analysed say a week from today?”

Reid: “Well exactly where the minister said, is where we all want to get to. We want to get to those testings of about…between 10,000 and 15,000 per day. It’s not going to happen overnight so I want to be very clear with the public. We’re at currently completed tests in the labs about 2,600 per day so we’re not going to get to that number over a week or ten days. But with the three interventions that I’ve just described that we’ve put in place, we will significantly ramp up but it will take us longer.

“We had always said it would take us longer to get 15,000 per day so that will take time. But over the next ten days we’re working around the clock to really break this issue.”

Listen back in full here

Meanwhile…

Also on Morning Ireland this morning, Professor Paul Moynagh, head of the Kathleen Lonsdale institute for human health at NUI Maynooth, also told Ms Carville that serological testing – a test for antibodies for coronavirus which would indicate a person has previously had the virus – is going to be a “really important tool” that will go “hand in hand” with the other tests being carried out.

He said such antibody testing would be initially very useful for healthcare workers, as it may lead them to securing protection from the virus and allow them to return to work.

Asked if such testing is already being carried out, he said: “That is just being evaluated. My understanding is that it is being evaluated at the moment. A number of other countries are evaluating it. The UK, I know, is evaluating this.”

He added that they would have to be “robustly tested” and said “certainly, it’s going to be a really important arm in terms of the testing regime in the country”.

Meanwhile…

Listen back to Morning Ireland interview in full here.

Rollingnews

This afternoon.

Scoil Chill Ruadhain national school in Glanmire, Co Cork tweetz:

“A picture paints a thousand words. One of our students sent this in, showing the global effort to keep the virus at bay. We think it’s just brilliant!”

In fairness.

This morning/ afternoon.

Naas Road, Saggart, County. Dublin,

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets with medical staff in the Citywest Hotel which will provide a 750-bedroom for self isolation and the Conference Centre  as a Covid-19 Step Down Facility .

Monday: Step Down

Rollingnews

Member of the Defence Forces or HSE at a coronavirus test centre set up on the LÉ Samuel Beckett, at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, last month

This morning.

RTÉ is reporting that a nursing home resident who was tested for Covid-19 nine days ago died last night.

The resident’s test results had not come through by the time of their death.

RTÉ is also reporting a nursing home resident is very ill in hospital and still waiting for their Covid-19 test result, after a swab being taken eight days ago.

Fergal Bowers has tweeted:

This afternoon.

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty has called AIB’s move to charge customers quarterly fees today “disgraceful”.

The fees don’t apply to AIB members who have more than €2,500 in their accounts.

He released the following statement about the bank, in which the State has a 71 per cent share… 

“Today, tens of thousands of workers who have lost their jobs and income as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak will receive their first COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment of €350. This payment will be needed for workers to pay their bills and feed their families.

“It is disgraceful to learn that AIB, instead of providing relief to these customers, have on the same day decided to charge quarterly fees to many of these customers who have just lost their jobs.

“These fees do not apply to customers with more than €2,500 in their accounts, but if you have just lost your job as a result of this outbreak they do. That AIB are charging workers and families who have lost their jobs and have little in their accounts these fees is a disgrace.

“I have been in contact with constituents who have lost their jobs and were relying on today’s payment of €350 to get them and their families through the week. This morning they were hit with quarterly fees by AIB of up to €100.

“The COVID-19 Unemployment Payment was not intended for the banks, and this pandemic should not be an opportunity for banks to squeeze more out of their customers.

“On March 18th the Government and Banking and Payments Federation announced a suite of measures adopted by the five commercial banks to provide relief to customers.

“We know that this has involved the banks charging customers additional interest of as much as €2,000 for applying for mortgage breaks. To find out that they are still charging quarterly fees of up to €100 to customers who have just lost their jobs is further proof that banking culture has not changed.

“The State is the major shareholder in AIB. It is time for the Government and Central Bank to challenge the actions of the banks and put the interests of citizens first.”

Anyone?

AIB charging of quarterly fees on day customers receive COVID-19 unemployment payment a disgrace – Pearse Doherty TD (Sinn Féin)

Rollingnews

UPDATE:

Meanwhile…

Good times.