Over 1,500 tested at Offaly 'walk-in' centre

The 'walk-in' testing centre for Covid-19 in Tullamore closed on Wednesday, after more than 1,500 people were tested for the virus there inside the previous week.

The temporary service was designed to identify asymptomatic cases of the virus, and a HSE spokesperson told the Offaly Independent that the positivity rate among those tested had been approximately 2%.

The tests commenced in a tent outside Aura Leisure Centre on Thursday, March 25, and the service ended at 7pm on Wednesday.

Figures released by the HSE showed that, during the six days between Thursday morning and Tuesday evening, a total of 1,512 people attended for testing at the "pop-up" centre. The figures for the final day of the service, Wednesday, were not yet available at the time of writing.

The testing was initially confined to people living within five kilometres of the test centre, but this was extended to a 15km radius from Sunday.

A spokesperson for the HSE thanked the National Ambulance Service, which carried out the testing at the centre, Offaly County Council and the management of Aura Leisure Centre for making the site available.

Gratitude was also expressed to the Offaly Fire Service, the Civil Defence and Community First Responders who manned the parking area, and Tullamore Gardai, all of whom "contributed to the efficient working of the site."

Meanwhile, what was described as "a very successful" outreach Covid-19 testing and public health promotion service took place last Friday among the Traveller community in Birr.

The outreach was held in Crinkill and Scurragh, Birr, having been organised by the Department of Public Health in the Midlands, in partnership with the Traveller Health Unit, the Offaly Traveller Movement and Safetynet Primary Care.

"This was the second such exercise, with the first undertaken on March 16 in Longford," said HSE spokesperson Dymphna Bracken.

"The objective of this partnership programme of grassroots support is to bring these services directly to the people of these communities, many of whom are vulnerable.

"The two Birr events were advertised by peer primary health care workers going from door to door in the two communities, speaking directly to residents and handing out flyers with information."

Over 200 tests were carried out by Safetynet as part of this initiative on Friday, while the Traveller Health Unit handed out packs of hand sanitiser, disinfectant wipes and face masks in order to assist with infection prevention and control, which is especially important in instances where people live in cramped conditions.

Question and answer sessions were also facilitated by Dr Douglas Hamilton, a specialist in Public Health Medicine, who leads the grassroots programme along with the Traveller Health Unit and Dr Fiona O’Reilly, the CEO of Safetynet Primary Care.

"It is hoped that the partnership will roll out many more such events in vulnerable communities over the medium term," said Ms Bracken.