Rapid 15-minute Covid tests key to reopening Irish society, confidential document reveals

People sit on the boardwalk in the bright sunshine, outdoors beside the River Lee. A new ventilation plan could assist in reopening the country. Picture: Larry Cummins

Rapid 15-minute Covid tests and new rules on ventilating indoor spaces are the key elements of a new government plan to allow the country to reopen in the coming weeks, a confidential Cabinet memo reveals.

The document, prepared for ministers, states that in addition to the vaccine rollout, the use of antigen tests and proper ventilation are part of efforts to “assist the sustainable reopening of the country”.

The memorandum states that:

• A plan in regard to the “optimal deployment” of antigen testing is to be prepared for Cabinet by mid-March;
• A plan for how premises are to be adequately ventilated to allow people return to work is to be prepared by the end of March;
• An enhancement to track and trace is also being prioritised this month.

Sources say the antigen tests are seen as a “crucial tool” in allowing larger businesses to test their staff, but are not seen as a replacement for the PCR test, currently used by the HSE.

The HSE has been looking at new, easier, and faster ways to test people for Covid-19, and trials on rapid 15-minute antigen testing have proven successful.

Sources familiar with the plan said the work is being carried out to allow the review of restrictions on April 5 to be “as ambitious as possible".

“All of this is part of the desire to allow the country reopen on a sustainable basis,” said one source. "More tracking, more and quicker testing, and clarity on how indoor spaces are to be ventilated are all steps in the right direction."

Regarding the ventilation, government sources said this is not primarily focused on allowing indoor dining to return, but it “is in the mix”.

The news comes as it was confirmed that there have been six further coronavirus-related deaths and 612 new cases of the disease. This weekend marks a year since the first case of the virus was identified in Ireland and while the country is set for at least another month of level 5 lockdown, health officials say there are reasons to be hopeful.

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the country has seen a week-on-week decline in cases for each of the last six weeks, and hospitalisations continue to decline also. 

Professor Philip Nolan, who chairs the modelling group for Nphet, said he anticipates a "progressive easing of restrictions" from April or May onwards, while chief clinical officer of the HSE Dr Colm Henry said: "There's much more hope than despair looking at the real-world evidence of vaccines."

Meanwhile, the British government is facing calls for the urgent introduction of tougher border measures after officials said they were searching for an individual thought to be one of six people infected with the highly transmissible Brazilian coronavirus variant in the UK.

Three cases of the variant had been detected in England and three in Scotland. The P1 variant, also known as the B1128 variant, shares some of the same mutations as the highly transmissible South African variant and was first identified in Manaus, Brazil, in January. It is thought that it could respond less well to current vaccines.

Social protection minister Heather Humphreys is to announce today that the number of waiting days for the standard Illness benefit payment is being reduced from six to three.

This will mean that the payment will now be paid from the fourth day of illness, at a cost of €32.6m to the exchequer.

Illness benefit is a short-term payment available to employees who contribute to the PRSI system.

Since January 2014, payment of illness benefit commenced from the seventh day of illness, and no payment was made for the first six days, known as waiting days.

Last year the Department of Social Protection received 200,000 applications for illness benefit, with each of those employees having to forego six waiting days.