An expert in immunology has called for the removal of general practitioners from the Covid-19 testing process in a bid to speed up the process.

Dr Tmas Ryan of the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin told RT radios Morning Ireland that if patients who had symptoms could call a 24/7 phoneline they could get a referral and be swabbed within 12 hours rather than waiting to speak with a GP.

Dr Ryan also warned of the challenges of imposing local restrictions in an area as large as the county of Dublin.

"Localised restrictions worked well in Kildare, Laois and Offaly because of the good faith of residents.

"It would be more challenging in Dublin because of the large volumes of people who have to move around the city to go to school and work."

While he had been shocked at the daily figure on Tuesday of more than 300 new cases of the virus, Dr Ryan said that people should not be alarmed as no one day can reveal much because of the inconsistencies in the rate of testing on any given day.

"The reopening of schools, universities and pubs all at the same time while figures are increasing was a cause for concern," he said.

Dr Ryan pointed out that local restrictions are an emergency measure and are not in line with the proposed plan for suppressing the virus.

He said he is expecting a more direct and coherent message.

It is too early to see the impact of schools reopening, he said, any cases in children so far are from outside schools, but there is still a risk of spread.

Dr Ryan also warned that there will be setbacks in the development of a vaccine and that a strategy is needed that does not rely on a vaccine in the next six months.

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Immunology expert: Remove GP's from Covid-19 testing process to speed it up - Irish Examiner