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MANY IRISH PEOPLE living abroad are not sure to go home on Christmas given the current Covid-19 restrictions.
Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan recently said that coming home for Christmas would not be considered an “essential” trip.
Holohan said last week that many other countries are “in a deteriorating situation” in terms of the virus.
“If we make the progress that we hope to continue and find ourselves in a much better situation in early December, even from where we are at the moment, one of the biggest risks will be the importation of disease through travel.”
Also speaking last week, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said it was “too early” for people to book flights home.
“Right now, we are not in a position to warn people that it is safe to go home at Christmas. And I know it’s a difficult message to hear, but that’s the case right now, ”he said.
Many Irish had already booked their flights home by that time; some are not sure what to do, but others have decided to stick with their plans and go home.
There have been mixed messages about what people should and shouldn’t do in terms of traveling abroad.
Mandatory quarantine is not in force in Ireland. It is also not a legal requirement for a person to restrict their movements for 14 days after their arrival from another country, but as one of the key measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, it is strongly recommended.
Speaking on Wednesday, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that if people need to return home from Europe for Christmas, “there is a clear traffic light system with protocols that they must follow.”
“I think it’s a common sense approach,” he told Newstalk.
Starting at midnight on 29 November, travelers arriving in Ireland from the so-called ‘red’ regions in the new traffic light system will be informed that they no longer need to restrict their movements once they pass a Covid PCR test- 19 (usually a swab) five days after your arrival here.
Travelers arriving from the orange regions do not have to restrict their movements if they carry the results of a negative Covid-19 test taken at least three days before their arrival.
Those who do not obtain a negative test upon arrival in Ireland can take a test five days after arrival. Passengers will be asked to restrict their movements until they are tested.
Impact on mental health
Liadh Casey (25) works as a psychologist in Edinburgh. The 25-year-old said that people’s mental health must be taken into account during any conversation about what is and is not considered essential travel.
Liadh plans to return home to Cork next month so she can spend Christmas with her family.
She originally moved to Edinburgh in 2017 to do a master’s in psychology and now works at a center that helps young people living with mental health problems.
Liadh said that if people flying from Dublin to London and back for work are considered essential travel, the flight home should be as well.
“Personally, working in mental health, I think this is probably the most essential trip you will take throughout the year.
“There will be a greater impact on people who cannot see their families at Christmas if they cannot go home, than I think Leo Varadkar and Tony Holohan are considering.
“Christmas is a very lonely time for many people, it is not a pleasant time for many people, and the only way to get through it is through the support of your family,” Liadh said. TheJournal.ie.
His father died a few years ago and, as is the case with many families, Christmas is particularly difficult after a bereavement.
“To be honest, I never considered not going home. Christmas is a strange time for us anyway, so I wouldn’t have done it to my mother or my brothers. You definitely need to be with your family.
“Even if it was the case where I had to take a month or whatever, I would always come home.”
Liadh is a key worker, so she can get tested for Covid-19 before coming home to make sure she’s virus-free and will restrict her movements in Ireland.
He has been working from home during the pandemic, so he won’t meet many people, and his office is closed for two weeks over Christmas.
“A lot of my stuff is home based – online meetings with clinical psychologists, schools, things like that, so it’s all on Zoom anyway.
“I was humming and spluttering but then I thought there was no point in me being here when I wasn’t even going to be working, it’s not like I’m taking time off.”
‘We will get home somehow’
Liadh said that all of her closest friends in Scotland will also be returning to Ireland for Christmas. She booked her flights earlier this month and plans to stay for about three weeks.
Liadh knows at least four people whose flights have been modified to date.
“I hope mine won’t change, but I don’t know if that’s being a bit naive. There’s talk of us driving, one of us driving and taking the ferry from Glasgow to Belfast and then driving down, but it’s a good 18 hours. We will get home somehow.
“If my flights go ahead, I will take a test before I leave, I will be very careful at the airport and I will isolate myself for a week.
“Then I won’t be stupid, I won’t go out, but at least I will be able to dine on the other side of the table, instead of in a different room than my family.
‘Incredibly guilty’
Ciarán from Dublin currently lives in London. He also intends to go home for Christmas and would consider taking the ferry if his flight is canceled.
“I have some friends who are going to take the ferry home, they don’t even bother to test the flights, they go straight to the ferry in the first week of December.
“I don’t think my flight is going to be canceled. I was scared for a while that it might happen, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. “
The 31-year-old moved to England just over a year ago, before anyone had ever heard of the term Covid-19.
“I came back to London after Christmas and then the pandemic hit in March. I ended up going home in March thinking that I would go home maybe for a long weekend, but I ended up staying home for a couple of months. “
Ciarán can also work remotely and has been in his office only once since March. He booked his flight home for Christmas in early September.
“I thought everything would be fine, but in the last few weeks there have obviously been messages that make me feel incredibly guilty about booking my flights home.
“I am still going home because the messages have been incredibly varied. They are putting all these measures in place to allow people to go home, but then they also say ‘don’t come home’, it’s pretty confusing. “
Since he can work remotely, Ciarán hasn’t booked a return flight yet, but plans to stay for about a month. He said that he will likely undergo a PCR test, so he only needs to restrict his movements for a few days. If you can’t do this, you plan to quarantine yourself for two weeks.
“I wasn’t planning on going home and running around the place.
“I stay within the guidelines in terms of staying safe and quarantining and doing all the things that you are advised to do. So as long as people do that, I don’t know what else we can really do. “
Ciarán plans to fly home in the next few days to avoid the pre-Christmas rush. He said telling people it’s “too early” to book flights doesn’t make sense, as it could lead to more people traveling home closer to Christmas, making airports and planes more crowded.
“If we keep asking people to postpone going home, everyone is going to be in a rush to go home at the same time, and that’s when there can be problems, when there can be busy airports.
“I made a very conscious decision to go home early so that I could miss the rush and quarantine long enough to spend most of December with my family.”
Ciarán said that if he can’t fly home, he worries about the impact this would have on his mental health.
“Actually, I haven’t even considered having to stay here and how that would affect me in terms of my mental health, when I say I haven’t considered it, it’s because I don’t want to consider it.”
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‘A privileged comment’
Kate Smith (31) is originally from Dublin but has lived in Vancouver in Canada for years. She plans to fly home early next month and stay for four weeks, quarantined the first two.
Kate said she considered getting a PCR test, but the cost of the test, about 200 euros, is the “number one barrier,” so she will be quarantined instead.
He has also been working remotely during the pandemic and can work from Ireland.
Kate smith
“My parents want me to come home. I’m going to be isolated within the family home, but I’ll be in a separate room with my own bathroom so they don’t mind that at all, ”she told us.
“My brother just had a baby with his wife in September. That’s the first grandchild in the family, so it’s a big problem, that’s my main drive to get home. “
Kate’s flights have already been changed twice, but she hopes they won’t be canceled.
“I hope there is probably some more movement, but the fact that I am going for four weeks and that I am quite flexible, being able to work remotely, does not worry me too much.”
Kate said she understands why the government is telling people to travel only if necessary, but said urging them to postpone booking flights is not fair, especially for those who live further afield.
I totally understand where they come from, it is a pandemic, but the only thing that annoyed me a bit about Leo’s comments, and the attitude of ‘do not book yet’ is that it is a bit privileged in my eyes because especially in For long distance travel , you need to book months in advance so your normal person can pay for them.
“So encouraging people to wait up to two weeks early in December is not practical for most people as far as cost is concerned.
“Rather than discourage travel, I think (the government) should encourage safe and responsible travel.”
Kate meets several Irishmen who come from Canada for Christmas, as well as others who stay.
He said that some people think that it is “really irresponsible” for people to travel home, but people have many different reasons for having to travel or be with their families.
“I keep telling people here, people who are struggling with the decision, that we cannot judge anyone else for the decision they make.
“Everyone’s mental health is different in this pandemic and you have to do what’s right for you, so I don’t think one person can say something so essential to another.”
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