Ireland to impose mandatory quarantine on travellers from 16 countries

People arriving in Ireland from the United States and 15 other countries and regions will have to complete a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a government-designated facility starting from 4 a.m. (Irish time) on April 15, according to a latest decision of the Irish government.

The 16 countries and regions, which are deemed as high risk for Covid-19 transmission, include the United States, Canada and Bermuda in North America; France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Ukraine and Armenia in Europe; Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives in Asia; Kenya in Africa and Curacao in South America, according to a list published on the government website, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

People coming from or through the above-listed areas must pre-book their accommodation at a government-designated hotel online and make the payment for their accommodation and food in advance, according to the relevant regulations.

The standard rate for an adult is 1,875 euros (about $2,230) for the quarantine period.

Those who refuse to be quarantined or leave the designated hotel for mandatory quarantine without authorisation will face a fine of 2,000 euros, or a sentence of one-month imprisonment, or both.

People can leave the designated facility for mandatory quarantine if they are tested negative on the tenth day of their arrival in Ireland.

Diplomats, aircrew and maritime crew, among others, can be exempted from such a mandatory quarantine if they can meet the other public health requirements of Ireland.

Ireland started to implement a mandatory hotel quarantine regime on March 26. To date, a total of 75 countries and regions have been placed by the Irish government on a list which requires a mandatory quarantine for travellers coming from these areas.

The list, which is subject to change, can be found on various websites of the Irish authorities including the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Irish Department of Health on Saturday night said that a total of 240,643 people had been infected with Covid-19 in Ireland and 4,783 of them had died from the virus.

As of April 8, a total of 1,018,264 people in the country had been partially or fully vaccinated against Covid-19, accounting for over 20 percent of Ireland's total population, according to the department.

Vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca are being used in Ireland with Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine to be available here soon.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 273 candidate vaccines are still being developed -- 87 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Friday.

--IANS

int/