The mandatory hotel quarantine system has been described as a “shambles” by a man who was released early from a hotel only to be told an “administrative error” had occurred and he had to go back.
Lee Brennan, a helicopter pilot who works in Italy, was allowed leave mandatory quarantine in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Dublin on Sunday, and he travelled home to Donegal.
However, the following day he was told an error had occurred and he needed to go back to Dublin to continue to quarantine.
It will be Monday next week at the earliest when he will be released from the hotel if he gets a negative PCR test.
Mr Brennan described what happened as “farcical” and said he’s faced with the prospect of having to stay long-term in Italy, away from his wife and daughter in Ireland, “until this shambles of an operation has either gone away or no longer applies to Italy”.
It comes as deliberations on adding more countries to the hotel quarantine list of countries deemed “high risk” for Covid-19 or its variants continues. Italy is already on this list.
Consultations on adding India, Iran, Costa Rica and other countries were understood to be ongoing on Wednesday night between the Department of Health, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Transport.
Mr Brennan trains helicopter pilots in Italy and he believed he was exempt from the hotel quarantine requirement due to his profession.
But he was sent to a quarantine hotel upon arrival in Ireland on Friday and his appeal was rejected the following day as he was not travelling in the course of his duties as a pilot.
Mr Brennan says he accepted this and was prepared to proceed with the quarantine, but on Sunday he was told we was to be released to quarantine at home as a PCR test he took in Ireland had returned a negative result.
It was the second such result he had had in a matter of days, as he also tested negative in Italy prior to his departure.
‘Surprised’
Mr Brennan was “extremely surprised” but was given a certificate of discharge and he returned to Donegal that evening.
He said he got a call from the hotel on Monday telling him he needed to come back to Dublin as there had been an “administrative error” and he should not have been released.
As Mr Brennan understands it, he was wrongly categorised as someone who had to go into mandatory quarantine because he did not have a negative PCR test rather than a passenger who arrived from a designated state and who therefore was required to go to a quarantine hotel.
A solicitor advised him to seek the instruction to return in writing and to stay at home until he got this.
Mr Brennan says he looked for written confirmation that he had to return but none was sent to him.
Gardaí called to his house on Tuesday evening to tell him he had to comply with the instruction to return to the hotel, and Mr Brennan drove back to Dublin.
He said that legal advice he has received since suggests his case would not be strong enough to try to seek a discharge from quarantine through the courts, and he said he would not be pursuing such a course of action.
But Mr Brennan said the experience has been “emotionally draining” and he believed he was not the only person this had happened to.
The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel referred queries on his case to the Department of Health.
‘Clerical error’
In a statement, the Department of Health said it did not comment on individual cases to protect confidentiality.
However, it acknowledged a wider issue, saying: “The Department is aware that a number of applicable travellers staying in mandatory hotel quarantine over the weekend were allowed to leave quarantine earlier than they should have been due to a clerical error.
“Once the error was identified the individuals in questions were contacted and arrangements were made for their immediate return to the hotel to complete the required period of quarantine.
“The Gardaí were also alerted and offered assistance in a small number of cases.
“The department is undertaking an investigation into this matter, and ensuring that necessary steps are in place to prevent a reoccurrence.”
It did not say how many people were released from hotel quarantine in error.
The department offered no information on when more countries would be added to the hotel quarantine list and said matters discussed at Cabinet were confidential.
On Tuesday Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly told RTÉ that chief medical officer Tony Holohan had recommended that some European countries with high rates of Covid-19 be added to the list.
Reports suggested this included Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Mr Donnelly said that the Government took a decision to designate only European countries that had variants of concern.
He said that the advice from Dr Holohan listed European countries that had high cases but not variants of concern.
