'They think pandemic is over': GP says people are shunning Covid tests

Dr Edel McGinnity, who runs a busy practice in Mulhuddart in Dublin, said there was great frustration among GPs in relation to patients who are declining tests even though they are displaying symptoms of the virus. File picture

A GP says it is "extraordinarily difficult" to get patients to go for Covid tests, with some members of the public now under the false impression the Covid 19 pandemic is a thing of the past.

Dr Edel McGinnity, who runs a busy practice in Mulhuddart in Dublin, said there was great frustration among GPs in relation to patients who are declining tests even though they are displaying symptoms of the virus.

"We are demented asking people about getting Covid tests. There is a narrative developing around the country that Covid is over. And people are astonished when we say they need to go for a test," she said.

As the virus rumbles on, confusion has developed about what exactly constitutes its symptoms.

"Despite this going on so long there is a level of misunderstanding about what can represent Covid. Particularly since the onset of Delta.

"These are not the classic symptoms of shortness of breath, fever and loss of taste and smell. Ordinary head colds and runny nose and particularly sore throat can just as easily represent Covid as some of the more serious symptoms," she told Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1.

Problem around messaging

She suggested a problem had developed around the messaging of Covid symptoms.

Because we have all been hearing about it for so long, people are now unclear about the symptoms and the symptoms have changed a lot since the start of the pandemic.

"If we had a hot dinner for everyone who said 'I know it's not Covid it is just a cold' we would never have to cook again. They say 'it is just a chest infection or a sinus infection I will be fine after an antibiotic.' We have to persuade them to go for a Covid test as well."

Dr McGinnity added that patients often don't want to be inconvenienced by having to go for Covid tests.

"They think 'Oh if I get a test I can't go to work or pick up my mother'. Parents are astonished when we say 'your child needs a Covid test'. 

"I think there needs to be more messaging around that. If your health is different in any way different from last week you need to stay at home and get a PCR test ."