A walk-in Covid-19 test centre will open in the town of Milford in Co Donegal from Wednesday amid ongoing concern about the high number of infections in the county.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly tweeted on Tuesday morning that the test centre would open at Milford Mart for three days from Wednesday while the centre in Letterkenny would remain open. He added that additional facilities would be announced as part of the “enhanced response” to Covid-19.
As The Irish Times reports, there are currently three walk-in testing centres operating in Co Cork, two in Dublin and others in counties Kerry, Kildare, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary, Waterford and Westmeath.
The incidence of Covid-19 in Donegal has been above the national average since last September, and the county currently has the State’s highest rate at 293.4 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 127.3 nationally.
The incidence in Milford stands at 675 cases per 100,000 people and in Letterkenny it is 600. However, in the south of the county the rate of infection is about three times lower than the national average.
Update from @HSELive - as part of the enhanced response to COVID-19 in #Donegal a walk-in/ self-referral testing centre will open tomorrow at Milford Mart for three days. Letterkenny centre remains open and additional facilities will be announced. pic.twitter.com/7mzhLTESxl
Advertisement— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) May 4, 2021
From Tuesday people nationwide aged 59 or older can register for a Covid-19 vaccination as the national rollout for those in their 50s gets underway. The HSE has said people aged 50-59 will be able to register for the vaccine over the next 10 days.
At present, when a person registers, the system acknowledges the registration and says an appointment will be made within seven days but does not indicate an actual date for that appointment. The HSE says it plans to vaccinate between 220,000 and 240,000 people in the coming week.
According to the HSE website, 58-year-olds will be able to register on Wednesday, 57-year-olds on Thursday, 56-year-olds on Friday and 55-year-olds on Saturday.
Those aged 50 to 54 will be invited to register for their vaccination from Sunday, May 9th and details on registration are available here.
