People who arrived from Britain after December 11 should eat Christmas dinner alone in their bedroom, HSE advises.



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Advice to people who have arrived from the UK since December 11 to isolate themselves for 14 days means they should eat Christmas dinner alone in their bedroom, the HSE said today.

HSE Chief Clinical Director Dr Colm Henry told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the advice was “painful but necessary.”

Dr Henry said there will be improved controls for the roughly 30,000 passengers who have arrived in Ireland from Britain since the restrictions were lifted on December 8.

The CCO said that people must remain in their rooms while in quarantine at all times, unless it is absolutely necessary to leave.

Mr Henry pleaded with people who have come home from the UK to heed public health advice and “not be the agent of transmission” of the new strain of Covid-19 evident in London.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan confirmed that health officials are examining contact tracing material from people who have traveled home from the UK in the last two weeks.

This comes after an Irish Examiner report that 24 people who have flown to Ireland from London since December 8 have since tested positive for Covid-19 and in the wake of a travel ban with Great Britain as a new variant of Covid-19, which is believed to be up to 70% more transmittable, is spreading widely in London and other areas.

When Minister Ryan was asked in Morning Ireland if he really expects people coming home from the UK for Christmas to isolate themselves for 14 days in a bedroom, he said: “This is very difficult advice, but we need to heed what what do they say. I hope the Irish have done this. It is not easy and as hard as it can be.

“We first heard about this new variant at the weekend and we acted immediately and enacted a 48-hour travel ban. We will come back and see that contact tracing material from December 8. “

Government officials announced the Level 5 restrictions yesterday and said they were operating on the assumption that the new variant of the virus is already among our population.

A Taoiseach Micheál Martin said yesterday that while there was no definitive evidence that the mutant strain was in Ireland, he admitted that “it is clear that something is happening” in response to the “extraordinary” growth in the number of cases.

Minister Ryan said the Irish “must have a New Year’s resolution for a safe January.”

“(The vaccination) will take time, just the logistics to reach all of our people. Meanwhile, we have to minimize the effects of the virus. Minimize deaths and infections and get to that point where we are in a safer space. “

The Green Party leader confirmed that the restrictions would remain in effect until “we are in that safer place” and said the government cannot give false expectations that the restrictions will end on January 12.

“They will remain in place until we are in that safer place. You have to monitor and review the situation, as we will do on January 12, but I don’t think we can give false expectations that this will be a short three week period.

“Probably, if we follow the trajectory of other European countries, it will have to continue for a period of time,” Ryan said.

The Green Party leader said the government would work with retailers to ensure that sales do not attract large crowds in January and will review the guidelines if they see “any evidence that [retail] it is a source of transmission ”.

“The evidence that we have seen from previous closings is that we do not see that the incidence comes from the retail sector, in general it has operated in a very safe and careful way. On that basis, and also on the fact that 40,000 jobs would be lost immediately if we shut down retail, but it was based on the evidence. “

Mr. Ryan said that gyms also exhibited very little prior incidence and is part of the larger “balancing act” of a broader mental health requirement.

“In this difficult January ahead of us, maintaining our physical and mental health is what we have to do.”

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