Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan has called on the Health Minister to announce increased COVID-19 testing as a matter of urgency.
Mr. McGuigan said:
“I echo the comments of my Party colleagues that we need more testing in the North. The overwhelming weight of medical evidence, led by the World Health Organisation, has said increased testing is essential in helping contain the spread of COVID-19. The World Health Organisation are saying
“You can’t fight a virus if you don’t know where it is. Find, isolate, test and treat every case, to break the chains of transmission.
“Every case we find and treat limits the expansion of the disease.”
“The lack of testing for COVID-19 across the north with testing only being carried out for those already in hospitals is rendering the daily figures released by the Department of Health meaningless.
“Without increased testing it is impossible to assess the real scale of its spread and, as a result, how best to deal with it.
“In particular, we need to see those working at the front line of this battle, our medical staff and health and social care workers, being tested as they are vital staff working to save lives and keep people safe.”
