Paul Reid also said he takes responsibility for the fact that the government was not informed of the issues at the weekend.
Image: Shutterstock/Andrey_Popov Image: Shutterstock/Andrey_Popov THE HSE HAS said the rapid acceleration of Covid-19 cases in the community and a staff ‘scheduling issue’ led to the contact tracing system being overwhelmed at the weekend, resulting in those who tested positive being asked to inform their own close contacts of their potential exposure to the virus.
He said the system came under pressure due to the rapid acceleration of cases, more complex calls and longer call times. She said some calls with index cases – the initial person who tests positive – are lasting up to 50 minutes as tracing staff have to gather 77 data points to understand more about the person and where may have picked up the virus.
80 Defence Forces staff, who were trained in contact tracing at the start of the pandemic, are available to provide support and some have been drafted in this week to help.There was anger yesterday in government circles as it emerged neither the Health Minister or the Taoiseach had been informed of the decision over the weekend.
Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy says she was “absolutely shocked” that the Taoiseach had found out by text. “You may not know the names and numbers of everyone you were in contact with. For example, if you were at an event or in shared accommodation. In these cases, call the Covid officer or manager of the event or venue.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
HSE chief Paul Reid apologises for contact tracing issues | JOE.ie“I regret that it happened but there are big calls we are going to have to make as we move through this process”
Read more »
GPs 'inundated' with calls from close contacts of Covid-19 cases due to HSE backlog issueMore than 2,000 people are being expected to do their own contact tracing this week.
Read more »
Taoiseach says HSE didn't tell him about contact tracing issueIt has emerged the HSE was to text up to 2,500 people who have already been informed of their infection but will ask them to get their close contacts to immediately get a Covid-19 test
Read more »
HSE to enhance its response to schools with Covid casesMinister for Education Norma Foley has confirmed the increased resourcing of dedicated school teams in each Health Service Executive area to assist schools where a Covid-19 case is identified.
Read more »
Covid-19: Backlog forces HSE to skip calls to thousands of close contactsGovernment fears health officials will seek another lockdown after Christmas
Read more »