Covid-19 testing and tracing systems have come under immediate strain due to the increased numbers of cases.
That's according to the head of the HSE who has refuted claims that the system is falling apart.
The HSE says it now takes a median time of 2.3 days for a person to get a referral for a test, get informed of their result and for their contacts to be identified.
However some people are waiting much longer than this, which the HSE CSO Paul Reid has acknowledged, but insists these are outliers and relate to incidents where they did not have accurate contact details from meat plant workers.
More than 700 people have tested postive for the virus in the past 7 days, 6 people in ICU's.
CEO of the HSE Paul Reid says the testing and tracing system has come under pressure.
Earlier this week, Professor Tomas Ryan of Trinity college said the system was falling apart.
The HSE boss is not happy with the claim.
Paul Reid has also expressed concern at the signifant rise in the number of close contacts people are having.
Some people testing positive for Covid-19 have up to 50 contacts
