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International travelers from 13 other countries will face mandatory hotel quarantine once legislation and arrangements for the new, stringent Covid-19 measure are in place.
The Minister of Health, Stephen Donnelly, has announced that 13 countries in South and Central America have joined the 20 already identified as ‘List two’ countries that present a greater risk of the virus and its variants.
It comes amid continuing claims by opposition parties that the proposed system of mandatory quarantine in hotels does not go far enough and should be extended to passengers in all countries apart from essential workers.
In announcing the expanded list of 33 countries, Mr. Donnelly said: “The government continues to discourage all non-essential international travel at this time and a number of measures have been implemented to reinforce this policy.
“If you are traveling to Ireland from any of the high-risk countries, you must complete a full 14-day quarantine period.”
“This applies to all passengers in designated states, regardless of nationality, and the goal of this measure is to protect the public from the challenges posed by new variants of concern.”
Donnelly added: “I submitted legislation to the Dáil this week to introduce mandatory quarantine in a designated facility.
“Once the bill has gone through all the stages in the Oireachtas, it will be referred to the president for consideration.
“Subject to the bill becoming law, the Government intends to start the operation of the mandatory quarantine facilities as soon as possible.”
A national Variants of Interest Monitoring Group (VOCS) has been established to monitor and advise on the challenges posed by new strains of the virus.
The list of countries on the Two-Country List will be subject to continuous review.
The countries added on Friday night were Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The original 20 countries are Angola, Austria, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Swaziland, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of South Africa, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates. , Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Earlier, the chairman of the Covid-19 expert advisory group of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) said that the only case of the coronavirus variant B1525, first identified in the UK and Nigeria in December, was identified here through contact tracing and traveling connected.
Dr Cillian De Gascun, also director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said the variant was slightly different from other variants because it had a worrisome mutation that could be resistant to the vaccine.
Dr. de Gascun said that at this stage the variant was more interesting than worrying. Any concerns were theoretical, as to date it did not appear to be more broadcast, he told RTÉ radio’s News at One on Friday.
The case was identified in the eastern part of the country and it was important to monitor it, he added.
Dr. de Gascun said the case emphasizes the importance of public health measures. The three cases of the so-called Brazilian variant in the country had been identified because the people involved isolated themselves and adhered to the restrictions, he said.
Ireland’s sequencing levels, as a result of encouragement from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, increased from one percent to between 13 and 15 percent, while in the rest of the world they were between five and 10 percent.
However, this wasn’t just about data, it was about end-to-end surveillance, he said. Sequencing formed an important part of Covid’s overall strategy, but it was not a silver bullet, Dr. de Gascun said.
“The virus does not recognize borders,” he added.
There were challenges across the board over planned quarantine measures, he said. “We want people to avoid all non-essential travel.”
Reverse contact tracking
Earlier, the head of HSE’s Covid Test & Trace system, Niamh O’Beirne, said there will be more investigative reverse contact tracing, allowing local notifications for anyone who has been to a particular location, in a particular moment, present for a test.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show, she said the most investigative contact tracing dates back seven days: where they were, the address and the electronic code, to allow for pattern analysis. It will involve a “bit of research work” to see if others need to be evaluated, he explained.
Ms O’Beirne said antigen testing could help provide early warning, but it was not a panacea, its accuracy was only 50 percent in those who were asymptomatic. The PCR test was the gold standard, “it is the best test,” he said.
When asked if rising levels of positivity among young people were of concern with schools reopening, Ms. O’Beirne said there was a lot of support for the schools. A specific group made up of 50 public health inspectors has been created to support the schools, he said.
Meanwhile, HSE Clinical Director Dr. Colm Henry has said that it has been “recalibrated” due to Covid-19.
New public health teams have been built in the community and other forms of care have had to be introduced because of the virus, he said.
These changes have become “part of the journey we are on,” he told Newstalk Breakfast on Friday.
Incidents that would have been considered “normal” in the past, such as patients in carts and crowded accident and emergency departments, could no longer occur and rightly so because they were “very dangerous,” Dr. Henry said.
The number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 has continued to fall to 585, according to the latest HSE figures.
There are 140 patients with the virus in intensive care (ICU). St James’s Hospital in Dublin has 88 Covid-19 cases, the highest number in the country, followed by Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown (58) and Beaumont Hospital (54).
HSE daily operations figures show that there are 34 ICU beds available for adults and 5 for children.
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