AN ADDITIONAL 26 states have been added to the mandatory hotel quarantine list in Ireland, with one country removed.
Travellers from a list of designated countries are required to spend a period of time in a designated hotel after arriving into the country.
The new additions will bring to 58 the total number of countries on the list. The new states added include Israel, Palestine and Serbia.
The states to be added are:
People travelling from these designated states after 4am on Tuesday 6 April will be subject to the mandatory hotel quarantine. The full list of designated states is here.
The Republic of Mauritius has been removed from the list.
All passengers arriving into Ireland need to complete a passenger locater form and provide a recent ‘not detected’ Covid-19 PCR test result.
People arriving in from the list of designated states must pre-book and pre-pay to stay in a mandatory hotel quarantine facility.
The Health Minister Stephen Donnelly earlier hit out at “leaks” from the deliberation process around mandatory hotel quarantine.
It was reported this week that 43 countries – including the US, France, Germany and other EU states – were recommended for inclusion on the list by public health officials.
The statement from Donnelly this evening said: “Advice from the Acting CMO [Chief Medical Officer] also includes advice with regard to a number of other states.
“Decisions in relation to these additional states will be considered in advance of the next Government meeting.
“Ongoing considerations will also address various issues including the operational capacity that may be required to accommodate additional travellers and issues related to the Common Travel Area and the need to consult with our EU partners.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney was reported to be privately “furious” about the proposals to add the 43 countries and this morning told Highland Radio that he did not agree with plans to add certain countries to the list.
“I don’t believe we should move ahead with adding a significant number [of countries to the list], particularly countries that have very large numbers of Irish citizens,” he said.
“Because don’t forget, this is not primarily about non-Irish people coming to Ireland on their holidays or for something else. This is primarily about Irish people coming home.”
The Health Minister and Minister Coveney announced the addition of the 26 new states this evening in a statement.
Their statement said further consideration will be given to strengthening measures around travellers from non-designated states.
The hotel quarantine system, which has been in the works for months, finally went live last week.
The cost for an incoming passenger coming from one of the designated states is €1,875 for 12 nights, with lower rates for children.
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