A GP says anyone who develops symptoms over Christmas should presume they have COVID and stay away from others.
The COVID testing system has come under pressure in recent days, amid high demand.
More than 7,000 cases were reported yesterday alone, with testing positivity rates of around 20% on some recent days.
There will be somewhat reduced capacity for HSE PCR testing over the next few days, although there’ll still be a majority of the country’s test centres open on Christmas Day itself.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Monaghan-based GP Dr Illona Duffy says it can be quite hard to get a COVID test at the moment, and many may wait for a day or so to get one over Christmas.
However, she said it's still important that people restrict their movements if they do have symptoms, even though that can be a particularly difficult thing to do over the festive period.
She said: “What we’re asking everybody: if you have symptoms over Christmas, presume you have COVID and isolate and stay away from people.
“Try to maintain that distance so we can stop the further spread.”
Dr Duffy said her experience is that people who are close contacts or have symptoms are "really good" at following the advice.
She said many are afraid of passing the virus on to others, knowing the impact it will have on them in terms of self-isolation.
Many people will voluntarily be taking regular antigen tests over the next few days, and Dr Duffy said that's a good idea for anyone gathering with others.
She said: "If you’re going to be gathering and nobody is symptomatic, do antigen tests if you have them - you might pick up someone who is asymptomatic."
GP practices will be closed for a few days, although will reopen after Stephen’s Day - with many already planning more booster clinics for next week.
However, Dr Duffy said all areas will have out-of-hour GP services to deal with any serious issues or emergencies.
