Trinity’s on-campus residents and those living in Halls have been invited to participate in a pilot scheme which would allow them to be tested for coronavirus on a regular basis.
An email to students and staff, signed by secretary to the College John Coman, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Orla Sheils and director of the College Health Service David McGrath, said that such a scheme would help to prevent outbreaks by identifying people who have the virus but are not showing symptoms.
“The exact details still need to be decided and ethics approval needs to be secured but the outlines are clear”, the email said. “The pilot programme will enable all students and staff living in College accommodation to be tested regularly if they want to participate using a simple and non-invasive test.”
“The science suggests that this limited testing of people living in close quarters will help to prevent outbreaks by alerting people who may have the virus but no symptoms. While we hope that all residents will participate, screening will be voluntary; it should be regarded as an extra measure to prevent the spread of the virus.”
The scheme “can never replace common sense and vigilance”, the email added.
“This programme will inform the national discussion on population-based screening and will support the continuation of activities in Trinity in a responsible, safe way while protecting our students and staff. Depending on the experience gained in the pilot, the screening may be extended to other groups of students and staff and, in due course, could potentially be extended to the whole college community.”
Last month, The University Times reported that Trinity will have on-site coronavirus testing facilities in the new academic year to prevent clusters developing in the College community.
The email sent today said that “in the majority of cases, the test can then be carried out the same day with the swabs being sent to the HSE Laboratories to determine whether you have the virus.”
Trinity is currently the only university in Ireland to offer such a service.
In a recent interview with The University Times, leading Trinity immunologist Luke O’Neill recommended that all staff and students on campus be tested twice weekly.
O’Neill said that “because of the asymptomatic aspect of this disease, you can’t just be testing people with symptoms. You’ve got to really test everybody is the idea”.
Carriers of the virus can still be infectious, even if they are not showing symptoms or are presymptomatic.
Speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk this week, O’Neill said that €1 million was one estimate of the cost of introducing widespread testing, “if you do it properly”.
