The Irish Government has announced it will end Covid-19 testing for the general public following a recommendation from interim chief medical officer Breda Smyth.
Prof Smyth recommended that testing be rolled back from early Autumn, and earlier this month advised people displaying Covid-19 symptoms to self-isolate until 48 hours after their symptoms are gone – adding that most people don’t need to get a Covid test to confirm infection.
Testing will now only take place on the basis of a clinical assessment where a doctor requires the result in order to “contribute to the diagnosis and management of an individual patient, or where deemed necessary by Public Health in relation to the management of an outbreak or specific public health risk”.
Prof Smyth said that the change in approach stems from Ireland now being in the mitigation phase of its efforts to stem the spread of Covid, which is now classified as endemic. With the virus widespread, it is no longer necessary to try and identify every single case, she explained recently.
A spokesperson for the Government said that Covid testing will no longer be recommended for the general population based on the revised public health advice.
It has not been made clear whether people will have to pay for Covid tests themselves, but the HSE is reportedly developing an energetic plan which details how testing will be “ramped up” if there is a need to reintroduce mass testing at the community level.
The changes mean that general Covid-19 testing facilities across the country are expected to close in the Autumn, and anybody seeking a Covid-19 test will then need to visit their GP or clinician, who will determine whether or not they are sent forward for testing.
It is not clear whether antigen tests that are sent out by the HSE are included, or if the change will only apply to PCR testing.
In January, it was revealed that €630 million was spent on PCR testing by the Irish State from the start of the Covid crisis to November 2021. The revelation was met with shock and disbelief, and Clare TD Michael McNamara described the cost as ‘astronomical’.
“The unparalleled scale of PCR testing in Ireland – to the exclusion of antigen testing – has led to astronomical costs being incurred. Government must explain why we had so much, and such expensive, PCR testing and stalled antigen testing despite an expert report calling for it,” Deputy McNamara wrote on Twitter.
Figures released last autumn to the Independent TD showed that the spend on PCR testing includes a €453.3m payment to the National Virus Reference Laboratory. An additional spend of €55 million went on community testing.
Deputy McNamara told The Examiner at the time that the estimated PCR testing costs will eventually exceed €1 billion. He queried why the much cheaper antigen testing was not more widely used in Ireland.