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What great timing to illustrate a point. The English cricket team are in Sri Lanka at the moment. A few days before departure the whole team tested negative by PCR for COVID. Upon arrival they were tested again and Moeen Ali tested positive. How can that be?
Well, the PCR test is not perfect. It misses things sometimes. That may be for a number of reasons such as the swab not being done correctly, or the swab just not picking up any virus RNA at the time, or maybe Moeen was infected on the day of the test, or maybe the day before...
so that the amount of RNA was below the level of detection when tested. Lots of reasons. The point is, a pre-departure test is great, but does not catch every infection. The Irish government is proposing to request a negative test by everyone flying into Ireland ....
This is an absolute no-brainer, should have been implemented ages ago and is great to see. But alongside this test, education and communication is crucial. The 'restricted movement' period of 14 days is not being observed by everyone because it is not being enforced....
I really fear that this testing will drive non-compliance even more. I really hope this new initiative comes with some improved communication from government to passengers so they appreciate the importance of complying with the guidelines.
