The real number of cases of Covid-19 in Ireland is likely to be much higher than yesterday’s record-breaking total of 16,428, an expert has said.
There were also 619 people in hospital as a result of the virus, an increase of 51 since Wednesday morning.
Dr Clíona Ní Cheallaigh, who is an associate professor at Trinity College's Department of Clinical Medicine, and a Consultant Physician at St James's Hospital in Dublin, acknowledged that the system for Covid-19 tests is maxed out.
As of 9:30am this morning, there were no PCR test slots available anywhere in the country, leaving those with symptoms or close contacts to do without.
Dr Ní Cheallaigh said: "I would suspect that the true number of cases is actually much higher than that 16,000, which in itself is a pretty staggering number."
She told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that it was sensible to assume that if a person has a positive antigen test and symptoms of the virus that they do in fact have Covid-19 and should follow the latest public health advice.
The professor said, however, that there are a number of reasons why a person would want to know if they have a positive PCR test, including for work. This is challenging, she said.
Reducing isolation time for those with the virus and no symptoms makes sense for the likes of essential services that need to be staffed, Dr Ní Cheallaigh said. The period currently stands at 10 days.
She pointed out that people are most infectious before and shortly after they get symptoms of Covid-19.
She said: "Looking at it, maybe a seven day isolation period with a couple of tests there at the end. To make sure as much as possible that people have cleared the virus. It's not an unreasonable thing to do."
In relation to New Year’s celebrations tomorrow night and the potential to push cases even higher, Ní Cheallaigh said that people have been pretty good at following public health advice as "painful as that is".
This being said, if people want to avoid getting Covid-19, they should avoid indoor gatherings without a mask as community transmission is so high.
"I think it's very, very difficult to be sure that when you go to a house party, restaurant, pub or any of those places where people aren't masked and are indoors, it's very likely that within that room, there is somebody who has Covid and doesn't have symptoms.
"They are potentially spreading it. So if you want not to get Covid, don't be in an indoor space without your mask on over the coming weeks," she added.
