Public health officials have called for fortnightly testing of asylum seekers in direct provision as well as homeless people and Roma living in congregated settings. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) says the serial testing would be on a voluntary basis and done in conjunction with representative groups and SafetyNet, a medical outreach team working with at-risk groups. NPHET says measures should be put in place to ensure economic considerations and insecurity of employment are not deterrents for people in these groups coming forward for testing. A lack of sick pay has been cited as a deterrent in some work settings militating against staff coming forward for testing. The Green Party TD had committed to replacing direct provision “within the lifespan of this Government”.

Source: The Irish Times August 09, 2020 19:30 UTC