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Sweden, Germany and Poland will be among the countries to be added to the government’s so-called green list of countries that people can visit without facing movement restrictions upon their return, when the list is updated next Monday.
And the list itself will be replaced by a system of “traffic lights” throughout the European Union in October.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed at lunchtime Tuesday that the green list would be updated with countries where the incidence of Covid-19 is currently less than 25 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the European Center for Prevention and Control. Disease Control.
Sweden, Germany, Poland, Iceland, Cyprus and Liechtenstein will be added to the green list on Monday. And Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia will remain in it.
Italy, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia and Norway will be removed. Travelers will need to restrict their movements when returning from these countries, as incidence rates in these locations exceed the government threshold.
The new green list will be reviewed weekly until the EU-wide traffic system is ready.
The Government continues to discourage non-essential travel for all countries that are not on the green list.
Under the October traffic light rules, only a handful of EU countries, including Hungary, Romania, Croatia, France and Spain, would remain inaccessible to the Irish in the coming weeks, based on current Covid-19 case numbers.
Traffic lights
Countries colored green will cover territories where the number of cases is less than 25 per 100,000 inhabitants in a period of 14 days and the percentage of positive tests is less than 3%.
Countries will be orange if they have less than 50 boxes per 100,000.
All countries on the green and amber lists will be open to Irish passengers.
Countries will be colored red if there are more than 50 cases per 100,000 and people traveling from those countries will have to quarantine themselves for 14 days after their return or undergo a Covid-19 test to prove they are negative. .
The national incidence of Covid-19 in the state is now 50.3 cases per 100,000 residents during the 14-day period.
Speaking at a press conference to announce Ireland’s new medium-term plan to tackle the coronavirus, Living with Covid-19, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the Government will continue to work with EU member states to present a proposal for travel.
The head of the Irish Association of Travel Agents, Pat Dawson, expressed disappointment at Tuesday’s announcement, describing it as “flimsy.”
He said that “there was not much more clarity today than yesterday” and that the government “just kicked the road until mid-October, when the EU rules will be finalized.”
The precise details of the EU traffic light system will be agreed at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers on 15 October.
While the traffic light system may mean that the Irish will be able to travel more widely across the EU in the coming months, it could also mean the opposite.
Mr Dawson pointed out that under the new rules, Irish people could be banned from traveling in the EU if the incidence of Covid-19 here is above 50 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Mr Dawson stressed that it will remain very difficult for people to plan their vacations or trips abroad, even when the new rules come into effect.
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