Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced on Saturday the end of hotel quarantines for returnees from countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Donnelly, the mandatory quarantine system was introduced as an emergency measure, as there is a danger of introducing dangerous new variants of the coronavirus that could overwhelm our health service and undermine the COVID-19 vaccination program.
“This program has been successful and played a key role in the fight against the epidemic in Ireland, thanks to which we can safely remove restrictions in social and economic life,” the Minister of Health said.
In March, a paid 12-day quarantine was introduced in certain hotels. It targeted people arriving in Ireland from countries around the world most affected by the pandemic. At its peak, this list included 60 countries. In total, the obligation to isolate in hotels affected more than 10 thousand people.
The measure was canceled on the advice of the Irish chief physician. The latter countries were removed from the shrinking list of countries considered epidemic dangerous on Saturday.
Other security measures remain in place, including the need to present a vaccination certificate or a recent negative coronavirus test when entering Ireland, in a statement from the Department of Health.