'Fine balancing act' between Covid-19 testing and restrictions
Dr Cillian De Gascun, chair of the Covid-19 Expert Advisory Group and director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, has said there is a delicate balancing act between testing and restrictions which was why there had been a move to change the testing criteria.
However, he warned that there will need to be ‘triage’ testing because if every GP (there are 3,500) were to broaden the case definition for testing and refer two more patients every day that would be manageable, but if they were to refer four more patients per day that would “potentially” put “significant pressure” on testing facilities.
The current figures provided “a mixed picture” he told the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk. The numbers going into hospital and into intensive care were going down, which was positive, but the number of deaths were still a matter for concern.
Dr De Gascun explained that in the context of the number of deaths there was a lapse between when patients were diagnosed as having acquired the virus and when they passed away.
The patients who died this week could have been infected weeks ago, he said.
From an infection perspective all deaths from the virus should be registered.
Dr De Gascun said he wanted to see more testing to determine the level of infection in the community. That’s why it was necessary to change the criteria for testing. “It’s a fine balancing act.”
When asked about the delays in results for some patients, Dr De Gascun acknowledged that some “systems are not speaking to each other all the time”. There is now a team going through all the records to ensure that all results have been forwarded, he said.
Dr De Gascun said that testing had to be increased “as much as required” and that the figures “should be a moveable feast.” He wants testing to include asymptomatic contacts of those who have tested positive for the virus and for health workers to be tested more regularly.
Those who exercise should be conscious of others and observe a wider distance because “they are panting or breathing more heavily, exhaling more. They should give others a wide berth.”
Dr De Gascan also said he was not ‘anti masks’ but that surgical masks should be prioritised for health workers and if the public wished they should wear cotton masks in retail settings.
