Hotel quarantine may cost up to €2,000 per person under Government plans

Hotel quarantine for passengers arriving into the State from high-risk countries is set to cost up to €2,000 per person under plans being considered by the Government. The cost, of between €1,700 and €2,000, is roughly what the United Kingdom imposes.

However, sources said no final decision had been taken on the figure, with several “hard questions” about the quarantine regime outstanding, even as the Government moves to enact legislation by the end of February or the first week in March.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is set to tell the Cabinet on Tuesday that the plan is to be able to send the legislation to the Seanad by Friday, February 26th . He will seek Cabinet approval to proceed with the primary legislation giving the legal basis to detain people from so-called “schedule 2” countries in designated facilities.

But the operational aspects of how the system will work, such as where people will be quarantined, how they will be transported and other matters will be worked out in tandem with the passage of the legislation through the Oireachtas, said sources.

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There is ongoing discussion over thorny issues such as how to handle people travelling due to the death of a relative and what would be done with children. The measures will also apply to those who travelled through a prescribed country, said sources.

The aim is to have the legislation in the Dáil in the first half of the week. Circumstances under which someone can leave their hotel will be extremely limited, including medical emergencies, to avail of a test, or if they are being transferred to another designated facility. Consideration is being given to setting up Covid-positive facilities, or segmenting facilities into zones for those who test positive and those with a negative test.

Countries on the list

The are 20 countries on the Government’s list of “high risk countries” that require passengers to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival into the Republic.

South Africa and Brazil were already on the list of high risk counties and on Friday Mr Donnelly also added: Angola, Austria, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Eswatini, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Passengers arriving from these countries must now complete a mandatory 14-day period of self-quarantine. T he Government will soon introduce the legislation requiring such passengers arriving into the State to complete this quarantine at a designated facility.

Mr Donnelly on Friday said that “under the current Level 5 restrictions nobody should be engaging in non-essential travel at this time. These stringent measures on people arriving to Ireland from 20 states are necessary in responding to the risks posed by variants of concern. People who arrive in Ireland must now complete a full mandatory 14-day period of self-quarantine if they have been in any of these states in the previous 14 days.”