PASSENGERS FROM 16 further countries will be subject to mandatory hotel quarantine in Ireland from today.
As of 4am today, Thursday 15 April, passengers into Ireland from countries including the US and Europe must pre-book 12 nights in a designated hotel, in order to slow the spread of Covid-19.
The countries newly added to the list, due to the circulation of variants or a high number of cases, are:
- Bangladesh,
- Belgium,
- France,
- Italy,
- Kenya,
- Luxembourg,
- Pakistan,
- Turkey,
- the USA,
- Canada,
- Armenia,
- Bermuda,
- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Curaçao,
- Maldives,
- Ukraine.
The move comes after the Department of Health yesterday confirmed that mandatory hotel bookings have been temporarily paused as the Tifco Group hotels have reached capacity due to 'walk ins' and people not pre-booking their slot.
The Department have said that anyone travelling into Ireland today should only be allowed on their flights if they have pre-booked their mandatory quarantine.
Those who have already made a booking are not affected by the pause in the scheme, and bookings will continue from 19 April onwards; those due to arrive in Ireland on those dates should still book their hotel.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health added: "The temporary pause will be kept under ongoing review should additional capacity become available".
They reminded the public that official advice remains "strongly against all non-essential international travel".
The 16 new countries join 59 others previously identified as 'high risk' and which are subject to mandatory hotel quarantine- you can read more about that here.
