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The new Covid-19 restrictions targeting tourists, including increased fines for those leaving and mandatory hotel quarantine when returning from some destinations, are likely part of the government’s plans to tighten external controls as the country is preparing to reopen slowly.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said a revised plan to “live with Covid” would be revealed during the week of February 22 and would see some restrictions lifted after March 5 if infections continue to decline, but it is “without a doubt” that some parts of the economy and social life will not be fully reopened “for a long time.”
In preparation for a reopening of social and economic life that ministers repeatedly described as “cautious and conservative,” the government seeks to introduce measures that prevent new variants of the virus from reaching the Republic.
Ministers and officials said on Tuesday that the government intended to introduce legislation next week that would establish mandatory quarantine in hotels for incoming travelers, a measure that the government spokesman said could be extended to returning tourists.
Government figures showed that of the 2,000 travelers who entered the country every day for the past two weeks, two-thirds were from vacation destinations, the spokesperson said.
Once the legislation is approved by the Oireachtas, it will take “a week or two” to “make it operational,” Varadkar told reporters. After that, returning tourists may be required to isolate themselves at state-designated hotels and pay for their accommodation, a spokesperson said.
Intense efforts
Multiple government sources said intensive efforts were underway to complete legislative and practical preparations for mandatory quarantine, although it is understood that a number of critical decisions on how the plan will work have yet to be made.
However, the Government has already received offers from some hotels to accommodate travelers arriving from certain high-risk countries or without a Covid-19 PCR test and must undergo mandatory quarantine.
“I know for a fact that the offers are coming from certain hotels that are willing to offer a full service ranging from airport pickup to accommodation, meals and other things that need to be provided,” Varadkar said.
It comes as British Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced a new hotel quarantine system for residents of the UK and Ireland who have been to red list countries in the last 10 days.
Officials said Health Minister Stephen Donnelly had held talks with Hancock, although high-level sources remain skeptical that a joint approach between the two governments is possible.
However, Varadkar said he was a “strong advocate of a two-island strategy.”
“If we don’t have the same list, the inevitable will happen. There are going to be people in transit through Dublin to get to Great Britain, to Great Britain to get to Ireland, all those obvious problems that were always going to come when there is mandatory quarantine, “Varadkar said.
Avoid restrictions
Cooperation between the two jurisdictions is considered desirable as the Republic and the United Kingdom operate in a common travel area. But The Irish Times has established that some British travelers are taking advantage of the freedom of movement between the two countries and current Irish regulations to avoid restrictions on travelers from Great Britain.
Expat British citizens are renting properties in Dublin for short-term stopovers of 14-21 days before traveling to Singapore and other Far Eastern countries as they manage travel restrictions that prevent them from returning directly from the UK.
Meanwhile, Mr. Varadkar said that the Government planned to “update” the “Living with Covid-19” plan and announce the modified strategy in the week of February 22.
He said construction would reopen “hopefully on March 5,” but not before then. He said personal services like hairdressers would probably be “definitely much later than that,” but that “homes, friends and family might meet outdoors.”
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