Up to 60k nursing home patients and staff to be tested for Covid-19

Paul Reid during the weekly operational HSE media briefing on the response to Covid-19 today at UCD. Photos: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Up to 60,000 patients and staff in more than 550 nursing homes are to be tested for Covid-19 in a bid to suppress the virus.

At a media briefing at University College Dublin, HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid said that as of yesterday, there were 248 known confirmed or suspected outbreaks in facilities both public and private.