No-symptom Covid testing at St Loman's extended to whole county
The testing centre for those with no symptoms at St Loman's Hospital in Mullingar has been extended to cover people from all of Westmeath.
It opened today, Sunday at 9am, and continues each day till Wednesday April 21, 9am-5pm.
One hundred and thirty-six people (136) went through the walk in centre yesterday, Saturday.
The walk-in / no appointment necessary testing is operating alongside the existing testing centre whereby GPs refer those with symptoms, and close contacts of a confirmed case of Covid-19, for their Covid-19 test.
Dr Una Fallon, HSE director of Public Health in the midlands, said: “Pop-up walk in centres have shown us that there is a demand, particularly from young people, for Covid-19 testing without an appointment.
"Using some of the lanes in the permanent drive-through testing sites is the next step in determining how this can be provided.
"Mullingar is the ideal location to see if it is feasible to provide this service in an existing site. The rates of Covid-19 in Mullingar have increased slightly in recent days. Providing additional testing at this time, makes sense.”
Niamh O Beirne, HSE national lead for Test and Trace, said: “We have the capacity to carry out 25,000 PCR tests a day nationally. In addition to our static testing sites across the country, over the last two weeks, with the support of the National Ambulance Service and Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) teams, we have opened up walk-in sites in various locations.
"These no appointment necessary testing centres offer those with no symptoms of Covid-19 an opportunity to be tested.
"Those centres have allowed us to raise awareness and make the Covid-19 test more easily available to people.
"By the end of last week we had identified more than 600 positive Covid-19 cases through these centres and identified new outbreaks. This has enabled those positive cases take the necessary actions to protect those around them”.
You should use this free, walk-in COVID-19 testing service if you:
- are aged 16 years and over
- do not have symptoms of Covid-19 but would like to be tested
- have not tested positive for Covid-19 in the last six months
Remember, it’s 1 test per person.
You need to have photo identification with you and provide staff with a mobile telephone number so they can contact you with your results.
You can avail of a free Covid-19 test without having an appointment in advance between 9am to 5pm each day April 20.
Social distancing measures will apply as people attend for testing.
If the waiting times are too long for you, you are welcome to return at another time or day.