A Galway City Councillor is calling for one or more of the COVID-19 testing centres in the city to be reopened ahead of this winter flu season.
Councillor Alan Cheevers said that either of the COVID-19 testing centres in Renmore or at the Docks should be reopened heading into the winter flu season.
Currently, the only testing centre in Galway is at Galway Airport in Carnmore, after other testing sites in Renmore and the Docks in Galway city closed in April when the feared surge in cases didn’t fully materialise.
The makeshift testing centre at the docks was set up by the Naval Service, who then handed it over to the HSE.
Increased capacity for COVID-19 testing is needed heading into the flu season as “symptoms of Covid and flu are so similar” that people will needed certainty Alan Cheevers said.
The Fianna Fáil councillor warned of current testing capacity being “overwhelmed” in the flu season, and said strategic planning is needed now to prepare for this.
