Five new deaths as GPs report large increase in people asking for tests

There were five death from Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland in the last 24 hours, the HSE said this evening.

GPs have reported a large increase in the number of patients seeking referral for Covid-19 testing since the August bank holiday weekend.

The online resource for GPs, GPbuddy.ie, has been asking doctors to monitor the number of patients seeking referral for testing for Covid-19.

They have seen a large increase in the number of patients with symptoms and an increase in the number of cases being referred per doctor since the weekend.

Meanwhile, mass temperature screening at airports is not likely to be effective in limiting the spread of Covid-19, evidence published by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) claims.

HIQA says mass screening using devices such as infrared thermal scanners, were not found to be effective in identifying infectious individuals or limiting the spread of the disease.