Testing has ground to a halt in Pairc Ui Chaoimh and Croke Park. And while the government refuses to release figures on those waiting, it is estimated to be in the region of 50,000.
Worse, it has been reported that 17,000 tests that went to Germany for analysis still have not come back.
The fiasco on testing is a direct result of Fine Gael’s business as usual approach. They failed to procure enough testing kits and have now run short of reagent, a chemical used to process results.
Yet a German university have made the chemical formula for making reagent freely available online to get around intellectual property rules.
A team of Irish scientists in the Cork Institute of Technology have also come together to develop a lysis buffer which is a critical reagent in testing for Covid-19.
To make it in great quantities they approached the giant pharmaceutical firm, Eli Lilly.
If we had a government that put people’s lives ahead of profit, that firms’ production facility would be taken into public control.
Randox, the Antrim based company which actually makes testing equipment would also be brought into public ownership. This firm has already received €23 million form Invest NI.
Without proper testing, we don’t know the true figure for how many people have the disease. Ireland could even be near US figures per head of population.
The lack of testing also means the lockdown will continue longer than it should. Across the world government are only ending lockdowns when they can test people and follow up on contact tracing.
It is time we broke from right wing policies that will not interfere with private ownership. Lives are far more important than profit.
