Kerry County Councillors have raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of contact tracing in Kerry.
They are aware of a number of cases where there have been delays contacting close contacts of confirmed cases.
The issue was discussed at the online briefing of Kerry County Council on Monday.
It has now emerged that the HSE is to advise people who tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend to alert their own close contacts, due to record new cases.
Independent councillor Charlie Farrelly claims the contact tracing system is non-existent in Kerry; he was speaking before it emerged that the HSE was to ask people to alert their close contacts themselves.
Cllr Farrelly claims it took contact tracers nine days to get in touch with 27 people, whose names were provided as close contacts recently.
Independent councillor Brendan Cronin has also heard of issues with the contact tracing system; he says it seems to be totally overwhelmed, with it taking several days before anyone is getting in touch with close contacts.
Their concerns were shared by Independent councillor Sam Locke; he feels tracing close contacts isn’t being followed up with on time.
Councillor Locke also says the seriousness of the pandemic needs to be further highlighted so people are aware of the damage it can cause in communities.
