Four Covid-19 walk-in testing centres to open this weekend

A staff member at Grangegorman Primary Care Centre. Photo: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland

Eoghan Moloney

April 09 2021 05:28 PM

Four new Covid-19 walk-in testing centres are to open across the nation from Saturday.

Two of the four centres will be in the capital, while Waterford and Limerick will each see a centre operating.

The new centres open tomorrow and will be located at:

Cumann Naomh Peregrine, Blakestown Road, Mulhuddart. (7 days)
St Joseph’s Health Campus, 3 Mulgrave Street, Limerick, (6 days)
WIT College Street Campus, Cork Road, Waterford (7 days)
Ballyfermot Sports Complex, 33-39 Gurteen Road, Redcowfarm, Dublin 10 (7 days)

The Limerick centre will be the only centre to open for six days while the rest will operate from 11am to 7pm every day for a week.

A walk-in testing centre operating in Finglas at Coláiste Eoin will be extended until Sunday evening.

The HSE have stressed that these centres are for people who are asymptomatic only and should people have symptoms, they should contact their GP to arrange a test.

“Targeted community testing using PCR tests is highly effective and has already identified over 600 positive Covid-19 cases that would not have been identified without targeted asymptomatic testing,” Niamh O’Beirne, HSE National Lead for Test and Trace said.

The HSE has said its aim is to carry out between 300 and 500 tests at each centre every day.

People can use the service if they do not display symptoms but think they may have been at risk of contracting the virus in recent weeks.

Users must be 16 years and over, live within 5k of the walk-in testing centre and not have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last six months.

Children using the service must be accompanied by a parent.