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T\u00e1naiste Leo Varadkar has ruled out mandatory quarantine for people arriving into Ireland, saying it \u201cturned out to be a bit of a disaster\u201d in Australia.<\/p>\nT\u00e1naiste Leo Varadkar has ruled out mandatory quarantine for people arriving into Ireland, saying it \u201cturned out to be a bit of a disaster\u201d in Australia.<\/p>\n
There have been increased calls for mandatory quarantine rules for people arriving from countries such as the US that have high numbers of coronavirus cases.<\/p>\n
Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said on Monday that, from a public health perspective, mandatory quarantine would be a \u201cdesirable measure\u201d but it was up to the Government to decide given the wider implications.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said the Department of Health and Government have insisted mandatory quarantine would not be practical.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a high possibility this pandemic will go on for years until we have a vaccine or an effective treatment, and it\u2019s just not practical to cut ourselves off to international travel for that long \u2013 whether it\u2019s business, leisure, essential workers, people visiting friends and relatives, people coming home,\u201d he told Newstalk FM.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe objective was to flatten the curve, suppress the virus, it was never to eliminate the virus. New Zealand thought they\u2019d done that and they haven\u2019t \u2013 they now have new cases every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia tried mandatory quarantine and it turned out to be a bit of a disaster. The centers, the hotels in which they quarantine people became clusters for infection and now Melbourne is in a second lockdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said the Government intends on publishing a \u2018green list\u2019 of countries where it safe to travel to and from without having to quarantine next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re going to do when it comes to travelling to countries that aren\u2019t on the green list or a list, is (look at) tighter controls \u2013 that could mean putting the passenger locator form online and it also means potentially looking at testing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will say testing is inferior to mandatory quarantine, but if we know mandatory quarantine can\u2019t be done then maybe it\u2019s better to do something like that than nothing at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that tourists should be told \u201cdon\u2019t come this season\u201d and that anyone arriving in the country should face mandatory 14-day quarantine.<\/p>\n
The island of Ireland cannot be left exposed and it was not enough to accept \u201con a wing and prayer\u201d that people were self-quarantining, she told RT\u00c9 radio\u2019s Today with Sarah McInerney.<\/p>\n