Sinn Féin’s Clare TD, Violet-Anne Wynne, has said that serious issues surrounding Covid-19 testing need to be addressed as some people, including healthcare workers, are waiting up to two weeks for test results.
“It is clear that there are serious issues surrounding Covid-19 testing that need to be addressed. I am being contacted on a daily basis by people in Clare, including healthcare workers, who are alarmed to be waiting around two weeks for Covid-19 test results carried out in Ennis,” she said.
“We are hearing alot about testing target aims, but the HSE is not disclosing a number of key statistics – what is the number of people waiting to be tested in Clare and elsewhere and what is the number of people waiting to have test results processed?, ” the Clare Dáil Deputy emphasised.
“These statistics need to be disclosed in the public interest. The current testing situation in Clare is having serious knock-on effects for contact tracing, with reports that some local GPs are receiving positive test results for patients who have not yet been informed of their Coronavirus condition.
“These COVID-19 testing issues need to be addressed urgently,” she added.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.