11 people have died from suspected coronavirus at a Dublin nursing home in the space of just two weeks.
The HSE confirmed that 10 people died at St Mary’s Hospital in the Phoenix Park of the virus while one other person died who was awaiting a test result.
The HSE run hospital with 198 residential spaces offered their condolences to the victims and their families.
Simon Harris confirmed testing is to begin on people living in nursing homes and residential settings who are not showing symptoms of coronavirus.
New modelling revealed on Thursday night suggests Covid-19 has reached a plateau in Ireland, and the virus has been suppressed.
However, figures show that more than half of all Covid-19 related deaths have occurred in nursing homes, with more than 150 clusters in those settings.
Simon Harris told RTE radio that the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) will meet on Friday to discuss measures being taken to tackle the spread in nursing homes.
"We are making very good progress as a country but we need to redouble out efforts in relation to residential settings, and sadly we know this vicious, dangerous virus is having a particularly devastating impact on older people with underlying health conditions," he said.
"Today we are going to see a number of more measures taken, particularly an increase in extra testing in our residential settings.
"We need to start testing asymptomatic people, and the HSE today will start using the ambulance service to carry out more tests."
