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End of an era as Covid test centres to close this Thursday

End of an era as Covid test centres to close this Thursday

The HSE has announced another important step in the 'Living With Covid' plan.

Testing centres as well as the online portal for appointments are closing down on Thursday.

The HSE says the advice around Covid-19 has changed and testing is no longer recommended for the vast majority of people.

The decision was made following updated public health advice, which states that Covid-19 testing is "no longer recommended for the vast majority of people".

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Both PCR and antigen testing will continue to be used by doctors in hospitals and general practice settings for diagnosing and deciding on treatment.

Testing centres have been running since early March 2022.

Eileen Whelan, National Lead for the Covid-19 Test and Tracing Programme, said:

"With the good uptake in vaccination and population immunity acquired through both infection and vaccination and the changing nature of the virus, Covid-19 will now be managed similarly to other respiratory illnesses."

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