THE HSE HAS been in contact with Irish pharmaceutical companies and laboratories in Ireland to discuss ramping up production of the reagents needed for Covid-19 tests. 

Supply issues in relation to these reagents, which are chemicals that are needed for the testing process in laboratories, have been blamed for testing delays in Ireland, with some waiting up to ten days for their results. 

Speaking to RTÉ’s Sean O’Rourke this morning, HSE CEO Paul Reid said Ireland is in a “chase around the world” with other countries to access supplies of reagents.

He said three actions have now been taken to address the supply issues. For now, some testing will be processed abroad to address the current backlog and allow labs to prioritise groups such as healthcare workers and hospital inpatients.

Reid said the HSE has also secured some supplies from China, but he said they will not be able to “fully validate” these reagents until they arrive next week.

He said he is also working with pharma companies and laboratories in Ireland to see if they can “significantly ramp up” their capacity to provide further supplies. Those discussions are continuing today. 

Reid said he wanted to reassure members of the public that Ireland is still in the top-tier of countries in the world in terms of testing, with more than 30,000 tests completed so far.

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He acknowledged that at 2,600 tests a day currently, Ireland will not reach the 15,000 a day health officials had hoped for this week or even next week.

Reid said there has been a major rush for these supplies from countries like the US as well as the United Kingdom as they realised the significance of testing in the containment of this outbreak.

They are all “chasing the same delivery supplies,” he said, with demand for reagents up by 1000% for the industry.