Huge demand for Covid PCR tests in Kilkenny

There were just eight slots available at the Covid test centre in Kilkenny yesterday as PCR testing facilities struggle to keep up with demand.

And there were no slots available up the road in Carlow, along with counties Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.

The demand for tests is so high the Health Services Executive estimates 4% – 5% of the country’s five million population are now being tested every week, with more than 26,000 tests now been done each day.

The positivity and transmission rate is between 15% and 19%, according to latest figures.