Pop-up testing centre for Galway as students flock back to the city

Thu, Sep 24, 2020

With thousands of students expected to arrive in Galway City over the next few days in preparation for the start of the new academic year, health authorities have said that they are looking at creating pop-up test centres in anticipation of the expected demand for tests in the coming weeks.

With students arriving to NUI Galway and GMIT for the start of classes on Monday and with many having arrived already in the city for campus and online orientation, the academic population will rise to levels not seen since early March, leading to greater calls for adherence to guidelines to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the Regional Health Forum, Breda Crehan-Roche, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare West said that the health services are seeing a huge increase in demand for testing at drive through centres in every county in the region and that they expect this demand to continue as third level education re-opens and brings large numbers of people back into the city.