More than 2,100 people attend walk-in test centre at Tallaght Stadium
By Mary Dennehy
MORE than 2,100 people attended the walk-in Covid-19 test centre at Tallaght Stadium in the first five days of opening, The Echo has learned.
On Thursday, March 25, the HSE opened five temporary walk-in test centres for asymptomatic people who wished to get tested as part of efforts to identify the wider spread of Covid-19 in the community.
The Covid-19 walk-in test centre at Tallaght Stadium
The HSE opened the walk-in centres for a seven day period in areas where the number of positive cases is particularly high.
The five test centres included four in Dublin, Tallaght Stadium, Grangegorman Primary Care Centre, Irishtown Stadium and the National Indoor Arena.
A no appointment, walk-in test centre was also opened in Tullamore.
The temporary test centres opened for the week of March 25 to 31, with most recent figures, at the time of The Echo going to print on Wednesday, showing that 9,631 people attended for a test in the first five days.
Some 2,186 of these tests were carried out at Tallaght Stadium.
According to the HSE, the overall positivity rate for the first five days is 3.3 per cent.
The walk-in test centre in Tallaght Stadium closed after its seven days on Wednesday, March 31.
In a comment to The Echo, the HSE said: “HSE Dublin South, Kildare, West Wicklow is continuing to engage and support the national programme and expect such temporary walk-in testing centres to be established in areas identified by public health.
“It is really encouraging to see the public engaging with the service.
“The temporary walk-in centre will allow people, who don’t have symptoms of Covid-19 to get a free Covid-19 test without having to contact their GP first.
“Currently around 1 in 5 people have Covid-19 without having any symptoms.
“Testing people with no symptoms will help find positive cases earlier and allow these people take the necessary action to protect others. This will help us break chains of transmission.”
Anyone with symptoms of Covid-19 were asked not to go to a walk-in test centre and to call their GP for a test.
At the time of The Echo going to print on Wednesday, the HSE was unable to confirm if another location for no-appointment testing will open up in the Dublin South West area in the coming days.
Keep up-to-date at Hse.ie and the HSE’s twitter and Facebook accounts.
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