Trinity is to become one of four Irish universities piloting a coronavirus antigen testing programme over the summer, with the hope that such tests can be widely used on college campuses for the next academic year.
It is hoped that the tests being piloted will be suitable for widespread use on college campuses to quickly identify cases of coronavirus, enabling universities to return to in-person teaching to some extent.
University College Dublin (UCD), University College Cork (UCC) and NUI Galway are also launching pilot antigen testing programmes. Trinity and UCD will use the LAMP test developed by TriniScreen last year. UCC and NUI Galway will be using a form of PCR test where individual test samples are pooled together.
The LAMP test is self-administered and provides results in around 15 minutes.
In an email statement to The University Times, Trinity Media Relations Officer Thomas Deane said that the pilot was due to begin today, but College is currently waiting on delivery of individual Rapid Antigen Lateral Flow home test kits from the HSE.
The self-testing kit “can be used by a member of the public with no previous experience of testing, in their own home or another community setting such as a place of work”, Deane said. “The self-test device is straightforward to use and gives results which are easy to understand.”
“The device will be used to identify new cases of COVID-19 in people who typically do not have symptoms. Anyone receiving a positive test will be referred to College Health for follow up with a Diagnostic HSE test.”
Participants in the pilot scheme will take a self-collected sample from their nose or mouth for testing. College is also trialling an app that will allow participants to get their test results.
“We will also be asking them to provide a saliva sample that will be tested as is currently done in TriniScreen”, Deane added. “That way we can compare both tests and work out which is most accurate, acceptable to use, easy to process and the most likely test modality that people will keep using.”
Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris has said that rapid antigen testing would allow students to return to in-person activities after the summer.
Earlier this year, Harris said that he is “determined to in line with that report to roll out a number of pilots across university campuses, college campuses and particularly in student accommodation”.
In a video posted on Twitter, Harris said: “I want to get these pilots in place, get them in place quickly so we can learn from them and be ready for the new college year. It is an absolute priority of mine and of Government to make sure students next year have a much better on-site experience than they had this year.”
“College is not something that is meant to be done at the corner of a kitchen table or in a box room”, Harris added. “We’ve got to look at how we can get our students back onto college campuses in September and October when the college year begins and I really think the rapid testing alongside the vaccination programme could be a major help in this regard.”
