'The regular Covid testing gave people a feeling of security'

In what's believed to be the first community testing programme of its kind in Ireland, many of Lecarrow's residents underwent repeated tests for Covid-19 over a series of Saturdays recently.

A Dublin-based company, Roqu, carried out the rapid-result screening for the virus at a marquee outside St John's Church in the South Roscommon village.

Local county councillor, and parish pastoral council member, Laurence Fallon, told the Westmeath Independent that approximately 85 locals had taken part in the first week of testing, with between 125 and 130 being tested subsequently on the second, third, and fourth weeks of the pilot programme.

He explained that Roqu, which operates a 'health passport' smartphone app, "has some links with individuals in the parish" and it approached the parish priest, Fr Ray Milton, to ask if the Church car park (pictured above) could be used for weekly tests.

"That company identified an area of interest, which was effectively Lecarrow village and a couple of hundred yards each side of it - houses between Lecarrow village and the church," said Cllr Fallon.

"The people in that area were approached to see if they would be interested, and virtually all of them were interested in it.

"The plan was that it would be a test of the same people every Saturday for four weeks, and the significant thing was that the test would give a response in 15 minutes.

"On the first day, we had 84 or 85 people from that area. After that, we established that a bit more could be done, so we extended it out a small bit to anybody within the parish who requested a test."

He said the Covid tests were "not invasive" and results were communicated to people within minutes, either through the 'health passport' app or by phone or text.

Once people had registered on the first visit, the testing was drive-through, so there was no communication or interaction among the local residents being tested.

The company behind the scheme said seven people had tested positive during the course of it, and in each case the person was asymptomatic so they would have been unlikely to undergo testing had this programme not been in operation.

Cllr Fallon said he had seen the figure of seven positive tests reported, but the results had been provided confidentially to each individual.

"We were involved in the logistics side of it, from a pastoral council or parish point of view. What happened between the 'patient', for want of a better word, and the testers, was their business," he said.

"But I am aware of some people who were tested and said they were positive alright."

Overall, he felt that the response to the scheme among locals had been very favourable.

"We had about a 98% return rate for the testing, so people were pleased about it. I'd say it gave people a feeling of security, that they had been tested for Covid and were deemed not to have it, so they felt better because of that."

He emphasised that this was a pilot study, and that it had not been developed by the HSE, but he was hopeful the experiment in Lecarrow might help to contribute to the development of an effective and accurate rapid testing system.

"The company has told us that this was the first time they did something like this at a village, community, or parish level. If it leads to more rapid development of a test that would give a fairly instant result it will surely be a help in terms of how we live and move around during Covid," he said.

In a statement, Robert Quirke, the chief executive of Roqu, said: "This trial was very much led by the local community and they engaged at every level from sourcing a suitable location to scheduling the testing at times that facilitated everyone.

"By working with the Lecarrow community, we have been able to stress-test how the screening system works in the real world and it has been very reassuring for the local families.

"Having a positive case identified has meant that people can isolate and seek medical help at an early stage and prevent transmission.

"With the Lecarrow trial, the residents were protected, making it a safer place to live and it reduced any potential strain on the public health system," commented Mr Quirke.