THE MINISTER for Health has announced changes to Ireland's public health response to the Covid-19, which the HSE is hoping will free up about 50 per cent capacity for PCR tests for older people.
Under the new rules, people aged between four an 39 who have symptoms of the virus are being asked to take regular antigen tests instead of booking a PCR test.
If an antigen test is positive, a PCR test should then be booked to confirm the result, but if it is negative an individual should continue to self-isolate for 48 hours after symptoms have gone.
New rules also apply to those who have received their booster vaccine or who have been vaccinated and had the virus.
If it is more than seven days since receiving a booster vaccination and a person is aged 13 or over, then they need to self-isolate for a minimum of seven days since symptoms appeared - down from 10.
People who are asymptomatic should continue to self-isolate for seven days after receiving a positive test result, but can stop self-isolating after seven days if symptoms have gone for the final two days of the seven.
Speaking about the new rules, Minister Stephen Donnelly said:
"Disease incidence has continued to rapidly increase in Ireland, with recent daily case counts substantially exceeding the highest previously reported in the pandemic to date. The 14-day incidence is now estimated at over 2,300 per 100,000 population. We are seeing levels of new daily cases in hospital that we have not seen since last January. The latest data on S-gene target failure data indicates that approximately 92% of cases are due to the Omicron variant.
"While our booster roll out programme is going extremely well, the extent to which the epidemic is continuing to accelerate means that there is still significant concern regarding the likely impact of such high case counts on our health services. Remember to layer up on all of the protective measures available to us including mask wearing, good ventilation, antigen testing and adherence to other public health guidance."
The Infectious Disease Society of Ireland criticised the changes, saying "insisting on confirmatory PCR testing duplicates effort for little gain at a significant cost to the public purse."
Clear consistent messaging is necessary to ensure we all follow the public health advice.
Our concern is this will lead to confusion and place undue burden on symptomatic individuals who may opt not to comply with guidance rather than isolating and seeking/performing a test. 3/3— Infectious Diseases Society of Ireland (@IDSIreland) December 30, 2021
The changes come as the Department of Health reported another record number of daily Covid-19 cases at 20,554. It was the fourth day this week that a record number of cases were reported as a fifth wave of Covid-19 infection caused by the fast-spreading Omicron variant sweeps across the country.
See More: Covid-19, Covid Testing
