THE HIGHEST NUMBER of Covid-19 tests completed in a single day in Ireland was recorded yesterday, HSE CEO Paul Reid has said. 

The Chief Executive Officer of the HSE said that 13,000 tests were completed, tweeting that this is “our highest daily number ever”. 

He said that 98% of tests are coming back negative meaning the “vast majority would have been returned in much less than 2 days”. 

Ireland’s test and trace system has come under scrutiny in recent weeks following an increase in cases across the country. 

Due to the increased demand for testing over the last two weeks, the HSE has stood up additional contact tracing centres, with UCD starting its operation on 9 August.

Last weekend, centres in Limerick and Dublin operated by Revenue commenced contact tracing work and the Army band started on 15 August.

More than 800 contact tracing calls were made last Sunday alone. 

The latest turnaround time comes after health officials confirmed that a further 79 cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in Ireland. 

It brings the total number of confirmed cases in Ireland to 27,755, with the death toll at 1,776.

A breakdown of the new cases shows that 43 are in Dublin, nine in Kildare, six in Cork and six in Tipperary.

The remaining 15 cases are in Clare, Donegal, Laois, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Roscommon, Wexford and Wicklow.

The Government announced yesterday that restrictions are to be lifted in Laois and Offaly but will remain in place in Kildare for a further two weeks. 

The latest operational data from the HSE shows there are 19 people with Covid-19 being treated in 12 different hospitals around the country as of 8pm last night.