THE MANDATORY hotel quarantine scheme for travellers from abroad is now in effect. in Ireland.
As of today, Friday 26 March, passengers from 33 'high risk' countries must quarantine at selected hotels from the moment they arrive into the country, and will be transported from the airport to hotel via specialised transport overseen by the Defence Forces.
The Tifco Hotel Group, who own hotels such as the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel in Santry, has been designated as the service provider.
Bookings for the mandatory quarantine must be undertaken via this website before the passenger arrives in Ireland and will cost €1,875 per adult for 12 nights, or €625 for children over the age of 12 and €360 for children aged 4-12.
The 12-night stay may be reduced if a person receives a negative Covid-19 test on day 10 of their quarantine, however, and those quarantining will be allowed to leave their hotel room up to three times a day for fresh air, supervised by a security staff member, as long as they have a negative PCR test.
Travellers must book and prepay for their quarantine before arriving in Ireland, and the measures affect anyone coming from these high-risk countries or who have been in the countries within 14 days of their arrival into Ireland.
Anyone who breaks the hotel quarantine or attempts to evade it will face a €2,000 fine, a month in prison or both.
Travellers from 33 countries designated as 'high risk' must take part in the hotel quarantine, as well as travellers from any country who do not provide a negative Covid-19 PCR test upon arrival into Ireland, who will be charged a rate of €150 per day.
As of now, the 33 countries which are on the mandatory quarantine list are Angola, Austria, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equador, French Guinea, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Eswatini, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Suriname, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
However the government has confirmed that this list is subject to change, with more countries expected to be added in the coming weeks and months.
Opposition parties have called for mandatory hotel quarantine for all passengers arriving into Ireland regardless of their country of origin.
