Since 1 October, RATs to detect the disease have not been given out for free. Photo: 123rf.com
The number of reported new cases of Covid-19 fell slightly in the week to Sunday, as free access to rapid antigen tests (RATs) was ended.
There were 1174 new cases of Covid-19 reported for the week to 6 October, and five further deaths attributed to the virus.
The previous week there were 1339 reported new cases and four deaths.
Since 1 October, RATs to detect the disease have not been given out for free, but were still available to buy.
Initially, the government was going to stop providing free tests from 30 June but extended this for three months.
College of General Practitioners medical director Dr Luke Bradford told Morning Report last week not providing free RAT tests could lead to more hospitalisations and deaths.
"The thing that triggers us a little bit is that there is a treatment for Covid for those that need it, for the immune-compromised, the elderly and the co-morbid. And now in order to decide if you need that treatment, you need to pay for a test - and we don't do that with other conditions."