THE IRISH GOVERNMENT has removed 23 countries from its list of Designated States for Mandatory Hotel Quarantine.
Only seven countries remain on the list, following the addition of Ecuador on Friday.
From 4am on Tuesday, August 31, passengers arriving from Ecuador who are not fully vaccinated must enter quarantine.
The remaining six countries on the list are also in South America, and comprise Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia and Peru.
Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay were among the countries removed from Friday's updated list, along with Georgia and Russia in Europe.
Mandatory hotel quarantine is required of those arriving from a designated state without proof of either full vaccination or recovery or other exemption.
A negative test result alone is not sufficient.
Passengers must quarantine in a designated hotel for a full 14 days, however this may be ended early if a Day 10 test result is negative.
A positive test may require a further 14-day hotel quarantine period from the date of the test or from the onset of symptoms, provided the person has been fever-free for the previous five days.
This 14-day period can be reduced if, following assessment by a public health doctor, it is determined the person no longer poses a risk to others of infection from Covid-19.
