When the reproduction number is below 1, an epidemic dies out; when it goes above that number – when the average case infects more than one other person – it takes off. But as we move around, the number of contacts we have will increase, and so the potential for more spread arises. Unfortunately, the turnaround times for testing and tracing still don’t seem to be up to scratch. Then, the average wait from the time a swab is taken to the lab result is 1.4 days. At least the capacity to test more people is there; currently, less than one-fifth of the 15,000 per day capacity in the system is being used.

Source: The Irish Times June 05, 2020 01:23 UTC