Ireland says reagent shortage to slow COVID-19 tests rollout for 7-10 days

Ireland expects global constraints in the supply of reagents used in testing for the coronavirus to slow the roll-out of tests over the coming week to 10 days, Health Minister Simon Harris said on Wednesday. Britain's Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove on Tuesday said the lack of reagents - substances used in chemical analysis - was a "critical constraint" on the ability to rapidly increase testing capacity.

Ireland is testing around 1,500 people per day for COVID-19, well below a target of around 15,000, Harris said in an interview with Newstalk Radio. While the Irish health service has made good progress is securing testing kits and setting up centres, a shortage of reagent was slowing lab testing of the samples taken.

"The third part is building up your lab capacity and making sure you have enough reagent.. and there is a capacity issue there at the moment," Harris said. "That ...is likely to last another 7-10 days."