Passengers in a near-empty Cork Airport recently. ‘Consumers haven’t an appetite for travel at the moment,’ says ITAA president Michael Doorley. Picture: Jim Coughlan
The Government has removed five countries from its travel-advisory ‘green list’, following a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in those nations.
The move means that any Irish people who are in Malta, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Monaco, or San Marino will now have to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return to the country.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the decisions had been made to “keep the incidence of the virus low” in Ireland.
He said that the five countries had slipped below Ireland’s minimum criteria for inclusion on the list, which exempts travellers from the requirement to self-isolate.
Malta, for example, has seen a spike in cases in recent days. Its 14-day rate of infection per 1,000 is now 26.7 — far above Ireland’s 7.54. The same rate in Cyprus is now 13.4.
Mr Martin said that there would be no countries added to the list at this time, with the list updated every two weeks. However, he reiterated the advice that people should not travel abroad unless it is absolutely essential.
“There are no additions to the list, and we continue to advise people that the safest thing they can do, in terms of their own health and the health of the country, is to stay in Ireland,” he said.
