Local TD Emer Higgins raised long delays for covid-19 tests in Lucan with the Minister for Health in the Dáil this week. She asked the Minister for Health to explain why people in Lucan must wait far longer than people elsewhere in the country for Covid-19 tests. She raised the example of a constituent who is waiting over 3 days for just an appointment despite his colleague in Tullamore having already received his results. She further highlighted that this delay is allowing Covid-19 spread in our community and is putting lives at risk. She called for mobile testing units in Lucan and Clondalkin to bring the waiting times back in line with the rest of the country.
She said: “One of my constituents in Lucan was confirmed as a close contact of a colleague who received a positive Covid test result recently. Many of his colleagues were deemed close contacts. They were contacted on Monday by the contact tracing team who confirmed they were being referred for a Covid test and should receive an appointment within 24 hours. When my constituent didn’t receive his appointment on Monday, he called the HSE Live helpline the next day”
She continued: “He was advised he should have received the appointment by now. He was added to an Escalations list and was informed he would definitely receive an appointment by 8pm that evening. No text, no phone call and no appointment. He phoned the HSE helpline again this morning and was advised there was no referral on the system, and he would have to be added again. Thus, starting the process all over again. 3 days in since he was first notified that he was a close contact and was being referred for a test. He still has not received his appointment” She added: “His colleague who was tested in Tullamore has already received his result. He received his result before my constituent has even received an appointment. Both were identified as close contacts at the same time. Another colleague who is also based in Lucan has not yet received an appointment either. By the time my two constituents will receive their test results, a week will have lapsed since they were identified as close contacts. If they are indeed diagnosed as positive cases, so much time will have been lost in tracing their contacts from last weekend. And since last weekend the figures in Dublin are giving us great cause for concern. People in Lucan should be able to get tested as quickly as people in Tullamore”
She concluded: “It’s not fair, it’s not right and it’s not SAFE that when two people are referred at the same time that the person in Tullamore receives their result before the person in Lucan even receives an appointment. Delays will have a domino effect in terms of Covid 19 spreading across our capital city. We need to get this back under control. We’ve seen the system being challenged before. We’ve seen a concerted government response to get it back under control and that’s what we need to see again now. This virus is so contagious that it’s a major challenge to meet our targets when infection rates escalate. But we have met that challenge before, and we need the same level of determined focus to meet this challenge once again.
