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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the possibility of air travel from Ireland is months away.
Everyone who comes to the state to stay, whether Irish or foreign, is asked to isolate themselves for 14 days to ensure that anyone with Covid-19 does not infect others.
It comes amid calls for stricter laws to require people arriving in the country to tell the authorities where they will isolate themselves.
Mr. Varadkar said: “The Government’s very strong advice is that anyone who enters our country, whether they are Irish citizens or not, must be quarantined and isolated for 14 days with the exception of certain key workers. We will strengthen that in the coming weeks. ”
I was speaking today on a visit to a Dublin contact center.
“Of course we all hope to travel by plane in the future,” he added. “We are an island nation and a globalized economy. We need to return to business and leisure travel at some point, but that is really premature at this stage.
“The European Union and aviation authorities are thinking about that and how we can return to safe air travel, but that is months away.”
Pleasure to talk to @drmikeryan and his @WHO colleagues this morning. He especially thanked the Irish for all their work in the fight. # COVID-19and I ended up with this message for Ireland: pic.twitter.com/PtBSGZmt6f
– Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) May 13, 2020
Varadkar said he is more confident that the country can start reopening starting next week.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) will make a recommendation to the Government on Friday.
Outdoor construction jobs, DIY stores, and small outside gatherings will be allowed starting Monday, May 18 if the government gets the go-ahead from NPHET.
“It is fair to say that everything is going in the right direction, but a decision has yet to be made on whether we will ease the restrictions on Monday,” Varadkar said.
“As we ease the constraints, personal responsibility and personal discipline will become even more important because we will find more and more people going to work.”
He said the government will issue guidance in the coming days on the manufacture and use of face covers to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
On Tuesday, the medical director, Dr. Tony Holohan, said there is no plan to make the use of face masks mandatory.
Senior government official Liz Canavan said work is underway at the government level on the use of face coatings in public.
Speaking at the Covid-19 briefing, he said: “We are aware of questions about the possible use of masks or covers as we move to lift the restrictions.
“Work is being done around guidance and practical communication about facial liners and how they can be done at home. A key message will be how to safely wear face covers because the evidence is clear. If face masks are not used correctly, they can have the effect of increasing the risk of transmission.
“We will have more information for the public about facial coatings in the coming days.”
Before some of the restrictions that are likely to be lifted next week, Canavan warned the public to remain vigilant.
Canavan said the government does not want to reintroduce measures in the future, as other countries have done due to an increase in coronavirus infections.
She said: “Any lifting of the restrictions carries the risk of backtracking and losing the hard-earned progress of the past few months. This week, we have seen some countries re-establish some restrictions. We don’t want to have to do that. We are approaching our reopening gradually. Therefore, it is important that we be disciplined in adhering to the guidelines that apply.
“It is also important to remember that we have not yet begun to ease the restrictions. Every day counts in terms of evaluating where we are and how we can move forward. “
Meanwhile, a public health expert has said that the lack of community testing for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland is putting the island of Ireland at risk.
Dr. Gabriel Scally, president of epidemiology and public health at the Royal Society of Medicine in London, said plans to control the virus remain different between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
He told Newstalk FM: “Certainly, in the north and the rest of the UK, they are not testing in the community. Unless you can test in the community, how are you going to know if the infection is coming back less to wait until people get sick to hospitals?
The number of coronavirus deaths in Ireland rose to 1,488 on Tuesday after another 24 deaths were announced.
A further 107 positive cases were confirmed, taking the total since the outbreak began at 23,242.
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