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Antigen testing is a wonderful tool but is not an alternative to mandatory hotel quarantine, according to Professor Aoife McLysaght.
The Trinity Professor of Genetics says we could have avoided the current lockdown if hotel quarantine was in place last summer.
Yesterday saw
26 more countries added to the list of high-risk countries, meaning all people arriving here from those countries from next week must book a stay in a designated hotel.
However, European states such as France and Germany weren t added despite a recommendation from health officials.
Meanwhile, a report from an expert group published yesterday said rapid COVID-19 antigen testing programmes should be introduced to complement the existing testing regime.
Ireland is in line to receive 2.2 million doses with the first delivery expected in mid-April. A vaccination centre at St Marys Hospital and Nursing Home in Phoenix Park, 15-02-2021. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews
Professor Mills said the country’s vulnerable population should be fully vaccinated by then.
“The numbers of hospitalisations should decrease but there are still hospitalisations among the younger group and that is where most of the transmission is right now,” he said. “It is among the younger age group not the older age groups.
“So, we would still see significant cases if we don’t have some restrictions.