Up to 40,000 people are currently waiting for a coronavirus test in Ireland, health chiefs have confirmed.
The announcement was made at a HSE media briefing in Dublin on Sunday.
Anne O'Connor, Chief Operations Officer of the HSE, claimed that approximately 40,000 people are currently waiting to be tested.
However she insisted that this backlog will be resolved as testing continues to ramp up.
Sites have been set up all across the country to help tackle the spread of the virus, with the 35th testing location being set up on Sunday in Co Cork.
Health chiefs added that around 13,000 people in Ireland have been tested for COVID-19 so far.
They confirmed the average wait time for a test is currently four to five days.
It comes after 102 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed by the Department of Health last night.
It brought the total in the country to 785.
Speaking on Saturday evening, Dr Tony Holohan said: “The Department is aware that pubs in some areas of the country are continuing to open, in contravention of existing public health advice.
"If any such premises become known to us, the Minister will be advised to use his regulatory powers to enforce the temporary closure of premises in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“We are also asking An Garda Siochana to assist in encouraging the public to abide by the public health advice on social distancing by encouraging any groups congregating in public to disperse.”
As of midnight on Thursday, 147 of the notified cases, about one in four, are associated with healthcare workers.
