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Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has advised Irish who want to return home from abroad for Christmas not to book their flights just yet.
Mr Varadkar said in the Dáil: “I know it is difficult. I know it’s difficult, but it’s six weeks before Christmas and it’s too early for people to book flights home. “
Ireland is in the middle of a six-week level 5 lockdown, which will end on December 1. The government can then ask the public to limit its close family contacts only during the Christmas period.
On Thursday, the Tánaiste said he had been watching Reeling in the Years, RTÉ’s television show that shows events and music from individual years in the past.
“In 1967 there was an outbreak of FMD in England and people were asked not to come and they didn’t and FMD did not come to Ireland.
“I’m not saying it’s the same, but we’re certainly not in a position to advise people that it’s safe to go home at Christmas.
“I know it’s a difficult message to hear, but that’s the case right now.”
He responded during the Leaders’ Question to the joint leader of the Social Democrats Róisín Shortall.
He said that in the event that large numbers of people arrived in Ireland and had to be tested within five days of arrival, a significant number of those people were likely to test positive, and asked whether the Government he was satisfied that he had the ability to do so. Deal with this. He also wanted to know the level of modeling that had been done.
Third wave
Varadkar said that some modeling had been made about the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19 in January.
“I don’t know exactly to what extent international modeling feeds on that,” he said, adding that he would have to check.
But in relation to European regulations, Ireland had adhered to the EU traffic light system which did not require double testing.
“That is at the discretion of the individual member states to decide for us.”
He said that Nphet (National Public Health Emergency Team) had warned that a double test would be better “and of course it would be. Any laboratory test creates false negatives and if you do a test twice, you are less likely to get a false negative twice. “
It’s the “kind of Swiss cheese analogy that people use.”
Under the EU traffic light system, anyone from a country designated as green will not have to take a test. Those from an amber region must have a negative test before boarding the plane.
“Where implications can arise is for people who come from a red zone” and if they test positive. “That’s what we have to work on.”
Earlier, the Dáil was warned that there was “no certainty of capacity” at airports to meet the demand for Covid-19 testing, as more numbers are expected to arrive home by Christmas.
State Minister for Transport Hildegarde Naughton said the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) test plan for Dublin and Cork airports, “estimates volumes at around 150 tests per day and increases that volume to 300 per day in total by the end of the year. ” .
Private sector
He added that “the DAA has also identified capacity in the private sector testing market of up to 12,000 PCR tests per day.”
But, he said, “there is no certainty of ability to meet all possible requirements.”
The minister told Sinn Féin transportation spokesman Darren O’Rourke that the tests would have to be conducted in private to avoid an impact on HSE resources.
At Dublin airport, the tests will be carried out by two private companies with step-by-step facilities, which she says would be “reasonably priced”.
During questions about transportation, O’Rourke said that people would want to know the government’s advice on foreign travel and the airport testing regime for Christmas, noting that last year there were 1.2 million passengers in the airport. Dublin airport, a “great deal”.
He said there was a very significant risk if large numbers of people returned to the state and “this will have important public health implications given that our passenger locator form and our testing regimen are not entirely adequate.”
Ms. Naughton said there was a “level of personal responsibility in everything we do here at the national level with the health protocol.”
She said: “We don’t know where we are going to be in relation to this virus. It is moving in a really positive direction, but you can be sure that there is a high level technical group at the government level that will be monitoring international travel, assessing this, working with the CMO (Chief Medical Officer) in relation to the advice of trip “.
Meanwhile, people planning to return to Ireland this Christmas will have to pay up to € 200 for a private Covid-19 test if they want to reduce their quarantine period.
gold standard
The Cabinet has agreed that arrivals from EU “red” countries after midnight on 29 November will not have to restrict their movements for the full 14 days if they produce a negative PCR test at least five days after arrival. .
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test is considered the gold standard in testing for Covid-19.
The Covid test is only free for people who fear they have the disease, but not for those who travel to and from other countries or want to shorten their period of restriction of movement.
On the other hand, in the meetings of the two most important government parties it has been heard that families should be given clarity about the Covid-19 restrictions before Christmas, while the risk of continued economic and social damage by the confinements.
As part of an extensive discussion on the Covid-19 strategy at the Fianna Fail parliamentary party, contributions were heard about the need for clarity on the restrictions that would be applied during Christmas, the sources said.
Cormac Devlin, TD Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown, said that, subject to public health advice, Level 2 should be introduced “with adjustments,” allowing people to travel home at Christmas, as well as indoor hospitality and religious services.
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