The HSE’s attitude to COVID-19 testing is “worrying in so many respects” according to Trinity Professor Tomás Ryan.
It comes after blanket testing in food production facilities was suspended in order to focus resources on increased testing in the community.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Professor Ryan said the decision “in itself is probably rational” – but warned that the fact officials are facing an either/or situation is “just not good enough.”
He said the country’s testing capacity “sort of folded down” while levels of the virus dropped over the summer – and noted that if we have capacity to carry out 15,000 tests per day, we should be doing that every day.
He said HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid should be setting much more ambitious targets and constantly pushing for improvements instead of celebrating when we get close to hitting capacity.
“The noises that come from Paul Reid are worrying in so many respects,” he said.
“Firstly, he is very defensive. He is very defensive of the performance so far. Even congratulatory at some points because we were approaching our testing capacity after we had already lost control of the situation – and he is not setting new or more ambitious targets.
“If the problem was they didn’t have enough resources – if they were saying they need more support, they ned more people, they need more money, that would be one thing, but they seem to be saying everything is fine and everything is under control and they are agile and redeploying things.”
A National Ambulance Service COVID-19 Testing Centre in Newbridge, County Kildare, 10-08-2020. Image: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNewsHe said the health service does not appear to recognise the scale of the problem with Ireland’s testing capacity.
He noted that Denmark is currently doing 40,000 tests a day, even though it only has one million more people than Ireland does.
Meanwhile, Scotland is doing three times as much and New Zealand is doing more and doing it faster.
“So far, we have been very much a one-trick pony in how we have dealt with COVID-19,” he said.
“It seems we are very good at lockdowns. We had a very successful national lockdown and we have had very successful local lockdowns – they worked quickly and decisively.
“But we need more weapons in our belts than this. This is not enough; we don’t want lockdowns. I think very time we have a lockdown, even if it is necessary, and at times they are necessary, it must be considered a failure of policy and a failure of strategy.”
US COVID-19 testing. Image: USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin/USA Today NetworkDr Ryan also warned that capacity is only “one side of the coin” when it comes to testing, with speed just as important a factor.
“At the moment, the goal is to have most cases done in a 72-hour turnaround time, not from symptom presentation but from being referred by your GP for swabbing,” he said.
“So that is just not fast enough to prevent asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission and we have known this since May.”
You can listen back here:
