THE NATIONAL PUBLIC Health Emergency Team has said it is not advising people to get Covid-19 tests as a protective measure before visiting vulnerable family members over Christmas.
Dr Ronan Glynn said people should instead follow precautionary measures and maintain a small social network in the lead up to the festive period.
“Quite simply, we wouldn’t advise that as a protective measure. We’ve said all along that a test is only as good as the point at which the test is taken if it’s taken outside of a particular context,” said Glynn.
“If people want to protect their families, protect their loved ones, protect people with medical conditions that they’ll be coming into contact with the next few weeks, there are many other avenues available to them.”
Glynn advised people to keep their contacts to a minimum by only meeting small groups of the same people over the holidays.
“Regardless of a test if anyone has symptoms, if anyone feels under the weather, they should not be meeting up with other people, they should not be travelling, regardless of the fact that it’s the Christmas period.”
A further 310 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed by NPHET this evening, along with 15 further deaths.
Speaking at tonight’s briefing at the Department of Health, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan asked that people consider restricting their movements now to “ensure the safest possible interaction with your family over Christmas”.
From Friday 18 December, restrictions on household visits will be lifted to allow two households to visit a third. Inter-county travel will also be permitted from this date, until 6 January.
From 7 January, the measures put in place prior to 18 of December will apply, subject to ongoing review of the trajectory of the virus.
Holohan said he will be limiting his contacts over the period, and has no plans to dine out himself, following a question from a reporter.
“There is a range of choices available to people now. It’s important that people plan on the basis of limiting their social context as much as possible,” he said.
“And what that really means is, do as little of the various different things that you could do as possible. Choose between them, do the ones that are most important to you.
“So for some people, the only way they may be able to meet up with a loved one over Christmas is to meet in a restaurant, and I accept that. But you’re asking me the question about myself. I won’t be doing that, because that’s among the measures that I can choose, and I think it’ll be different for everybody.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, stressed that marginal changes in the level of social mixing can lead to very significant changes in the level of viral transmission.
“The bottom line on this is we are where we are now. Being at 250 cases a day leaves us more vulnerable than if we were at 100. But the advice remains the same: If we can keep our social network very small, we can continue to keep this virus under control,” said Nolan.
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