"There is a global shortage to testing kits, there's a shortage of reagents, and we also need the laboratory capacity. "One of the things we decided to do, and that was actually yesterday, is actually to step up contact tracing considerably. Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris has warned that doctors will be testing people for the coronavirus for “many, many months”. “We shouldn’t actually be waiting for a suspect case to be confirmed before beginning contact tracing. “There will be contact tracing of anybody you were in contact with 48 hours before you became symptomatic but there will be contact tracing of suspect cases before they are confirmed,” he added.

Source: Irish Independent April 01, 2020 14:26 UTC