As we are all aware, there have been updates in the last few days to the Irish government guidelines on managing infection control for COVID-19 with isolation, testing and masking.
Current testing protocol for COVID-19
The current guidelines indicate that for most workers in the early years sector (anyone aged 4-39), PCR tests should not be used. Instead, if you are in this age group and you have any symptoms, you should stay home and take antigen tests every day. If your tests are negative, this does not necessarily show that you are not infected, and you should continue to isolate until 48 hours after your symptoms subside. If you have a positive antigen test, this should be considered a definitive positive test result and reported to the HSE. For more detail on these guidelines, see Guidance on the public health management of COVID-19 cases and close contacts from the Department of Health.
The current recommendation is that anyone age 13 or older who may be infected with COVID-19 should use a medical-grade mask or FFP2 mask even if they are at home (if they will have any contact at all with other people while at home).
The guidelines also specify that close contacts of anyone with COVID-19, if they are aged 13 or older and have not been "boosted" (received their third vaccination - or had their first 2 vaccinations and a subsequent COVID-19 infection) should use a medical-grade or FFP2 mask for 10 days after their contact and restrict movements for 7 days. For more detail on these guidelines, see Guidance on the public health management of COVID-19 cases and close contacts from the Department of Health.
In general, when using masks to limit transmission, medical-grade or FFP2 masks are recommended as they have been shown to provide better filtration than cloth masks.
FFP2 is a European standard for filtration that has been used to certify masks used to filter dust, for instance for workers on a building site, as well as for infection control settings. "FFP" stands for "Filtering Face Piece". The FFP2 standard is the same in terms of filtration to the standard American N95 standard and the Chinese KN95 standard. Whether you are buying medical-grade or FFP2 masks, you should always look for the CE logo which shows that the product has been deemed to meet EU safety, health and environmental protection requirements.
The Omicron Variant and what the future might hold
The good news with regard to the latest "Omicron" variant of COVID-19 is that it seems to be causing far less hospitalisation and serious illness than previous variants. It is not known for sure how much of this improvement is due to the difference in the way the Omicron variant operates and how much is due to partial immunity from vaccination in such a high percentage of the adult population.
The Omicron variant also seems to be far more contagious, which makes it more difficult to contain and manage, but it also means that it is likely this wave of infection will pass relatively quickly, and we will hopefully be able to see a great improvement in the Irish situation with lifting of restrictions and a return to largely normal life soon!
