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Government ministers will consider proposals to introduce mandatory quarantine for passengers arriving in the state who do not have a valid PCR test showing they are negative for Covid.
The Cabinet is under increasing pressure to introduce stricter restrictions after the state’s public health team said existing pre-flight tests were insufficient and the EU is considering a ban on non-essential travel between states. members.
A government source said “nothing is ruled out” regarding the tightening of the rules on inbound travel. Among the options being explored are regulations that will require a passenger without a PCR test to enter mandatory quarantine at a designated location, such as a hotel, for 14 days or until they can show a clear PCR test.
There is growing concern about the spread of three new Covid-19 variants through travel, as figures show that more than 3,000 people from South Africa and Brazil, and 37,000 from the UK flew into the state in the five weeks to January 11.
“There is a lot of concern about the variations in the member states, people are really worried about that,” Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Irish Times after a video conference from EU leaders.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) said late Thursday that the UK variant accounted for more than 60 percent of the samples tested recently. It reported 51 more deaths and 2608 new cases of the disease. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Thursday raised the risk of new variants from high to very high, warning that the higher infectivity of the UK variant would likely lead to “higher rates of hospitalization and death. “.
A system that began last week required the production of a negative test result for all passengers arriving in the state. However, while failure to produce the result is a criminal offense, the Gardaí do not have the power to prevent the person from continuing their journey to the state.
Opinions divided
Sources admitted that there were divided opinions within the cabinet and the Justice Department was cautious. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar also expressed reservations on Thursday, saying that mandatory quarantine would be disproportionate and not feasible in the state due to the open border. Government sources said that such a regime may encounter legal and constitutional difficulties.
The Justice Department has said that the number of passengers arriving without PCR test results has been reduced to very small numbers. Carriers are also required to deny boarding to passengers if they do not get a test result.
In a letter sent to the government published on Thursday, Nphet said “more measures should be taken” and that a pre-trip test alone was not strong enough to prevent the importation of diseases. “In the January 14 letter, it also recommended the removal of “discretion” in relation to movement restriction and post-arrival PCR testing.
In a briefing on Thursday night, medical director Dr. Tony Holohan criticized airlines for announcing holiday flights on the grounds that vaccines would soon be available to travelers.
Travel ban
There is mounting pressure for non-essential travel to be banned among EU members. EU leaders met on Thursday in a bid to coordinate the issue, amid growing calls from member states for travel restrictions to prevent travel from contributing to hospitals being overwhelmed before vaccines are widely implemented.
More discussion is needed to identify measures that all 27 can agree on. “There’s a little more work to do on that … but it all goes in one direction,” Martin said. “We are very strong that supply chains must be protected in terms of any travel restrictions.”
Meanwhile, some member states may go ahead with their own new measures at their borders. Germany and Belgium have called for tougher restrictions to curb non-essential travel, although the idea of border controls has met resistance from member states that rely on tourism or have large numbers of cross-border travelers.
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