The head of the HSE is hoping the testing of close contacts will resume this week.
It was suspended on New Year’s Eve due to huge pressure on the system.
So far in January, over 94,000 Covid 19 cases have been announced.
But the true figure could be much higher as asymptomatic close contacts haven’t been tested since the beginning of the month.
On New Year’s Eve, it was announced this was being suspended as the system was overwhelmed.
However that may change this week with the CEO of the HSE Paul Reid saying the service will resume if the daily case numbers stay below.
It comes as the latest figures shows there are 1,948 patients being treated in hospital for Covid 19 and 219 are in ICU.
