Head believes HSE needs 'more strategic' Covid-19 response going into 'the following year'

A shared ‘road map’ on the way forward has been agreed between the health service and Government and is due to be signed off by Cabinet.

Testing for Covid-19 will be scaled up to 100,000 per week by the middle of next month, HSE chief executive Paul Reid said.

Officials are considering the best route for swabs to take to laboratories, use of the ambulance service, and automation of the process when positive results come back and notifications go out for contact tracing.