A top travel expert says introducing mandatory quarantine could have a serious impact on our health system and economy.
Eoghan Corry’s comments come as Cabinet Ministers are meeting today to introduce new travel-related COVID restrictions, as reported here.
New fines are planned for people who break self-isolation after coming into Ireland, and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan’s confirmed there will be mandatory quarantine in hotels for others.
Eoghan, of Air & Travel Magazine has been telling KCLR that enforcing the quarantine for everyone would not be sustainable;
“The number of people who can be mandatorily quarantined, because it’s not just about hotel rooms it’s about policing it, is very very low. We know this from the countries that have done it. So you will have a limit of about 500 people in and out of the country every day” he explained on KCLR Live. “That means our medical personnel won’t be able to get in and out. Already, parts of our economy are not being facilitated because of this. There are power stations with machines that are down since last March because they cannot be serviced. Companies will not send in somebody to service a machine if they will have to spend 14 days in isolation.”
However, Opposition TDs have called for full mandatory quarantine for everyone entering the state.
People Before Profit have published a motion arguing for a Zero-COVID approach.
Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett says it’s time for a change in strategy:
“It is absolutely clear that the living with Covid strategy pursued by the government has failed spectacularly” he claims. “Trying to live alongside Covid is like trying to play footsie with a tiger. It just does not work.”
