People who received a positive Covid-19 test at the weekend will be asked to carry out their own contact tracing.
The HSE is to send a text today to confirmed cases that can then be forwarded to their close contacts.
More than 3,500 cases of Covid-19 were announced at the weekend.
Due to the high numbers of cases and in an effort to maintain effective turnaround times for contact tracing, the HSE is asking a number of those people to alert their own close contacts
people who were alerted by text on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday by the HSE will receive another text today which can be forwarded to their close contacts.
The message which replaces the contact tracing phone call advises close contacts to restrict their movements and immediately contact their GP to arrange a test.
The HSE says that this is a one-off temporary measure being implemented in consultation with GPs, to ensure those affected are tested as quickly as possible.
The HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Colm Henry says: ‘We know that people would prefer a personal call at what can be a worrying time and we would prefer to make those calls and to continue to do that going into the future. For this temporary measure, we should reiterate that the contact tracing process has always been led by the information given to us by the people we are calling, so we are confident that the people involved will be able to identify their own contacts and will contact them as soon as possible.’
