Jim O'Callaghan
Question:941. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken in order to prepare for new variants of Covid-19 and or other viruses that may manifest themselves from October 2021. [11875/21]
View answerWednesday, 3 March 2021
Questions (941)
Written answers
Government has responded proactively to threat of new variants of concern of SARS-Cov-2 and has introduced mandatory testing and quarantine measures.
Regulations have been in place to require pre-departure testing of overseas arrivals since 16 January 2021 and mandatory home quarantine has been in place since 4th of February 2021.
There are currently 33 states designated as Category 2 due to concerns of the risk of variants of concern. Arrivals from these states are subject to more stringent quarantine requirements and advised to contact a GP to arrange a free PCR test no less than five days after arrival. These test results are used for genome sequencing in order to identify the presence of variants of concern in Ireland.
The Health Amendment Bill gives effect to the Government Decision on mandatory quarantine at designated facilities. The operationalisation of these designated quarantine facilities is being advanced on a cross-departmental basis as a matter of priority.
The Government gives continuing consideration to travel policy informed by the epidemiological situation internationally and public health advice.