55k Covid tests completed in the last week, as public told 'tradeoffs' needed to live alongside virus

Ireland's testing system is not collapsing, the HSE chief said. Picture: Paul Reid, CEO HSE, as he addresses the media during the HSE Operational briefing in UCD O'Brien Centre for Science today. Photograph: Sam Boal / Photocall Ireland

The head of the HSE has said that Covid-19 is a situation that cannot be simplified, and that “tradeoffs” need to be made in order to live alongside the virus.

At the executive’s latest operational update at UCD in Dublin, Paul Reid said that the best way to “mitigate” the virus is to practice the public health advice of social distancing and hand-washing “with military precision”.