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Covid-19 Pandemic

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Questions (1759)

Mick Barry

Question:

1759. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Health the provision he plans to make for persons in mandatory hotel quarantine that have a need to provide care for children or others; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18907/21]

View answer

Written answers

The Health Act 1947, as amended, provides that all persons arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility unless they are an exempted traveller under the Act.

The safety, wellbeing and comfort of all guests quarantining in a designated facility is a priority of the mandatory quarantine system, along with the ultimate goal of protecting public health by limiting the potential spread of COVID-19 variants of concern.

All facilities in the mandatory quarantine system have a designated outdoor area on-site which guests will be allowed to use on a scheduled basis up to three times daily, subject to their having received a 'not detected' result in their initial RT-PCR test. Additional time will be available to families with children should they request it.

All guests undergoing mandatory quarantine in a designated facility are being provided with access to a 24/7 on-site healthcare team who hold clinical responsibility for their wellbeing during their stay. The on-site healthcare team are available to address any wellbeing concerns of guests through both scheduled daily check-in calls during a guest's stay as well as through direct engagement if requested. Guests requiring any specific, urgent or emergency care which cannot be provided on-site at a hotel may also be referred to a dedicated medical facility by the on-site healthcare team.

Guests who wish to access other services, such as online education services, may arrange to do so through normal channels. The hotel service provider will endeavour to facilitate any requests for assistance in accessing such channels.

The State Liaison Officer (SLO) will have staff onsite 24/7 at each designated facility to liaise between guests and the service provider if required.

All reasonable efforts will be made by both service provider staff and the on-site health team to facilitate a comfortable stay in a designated facility.

No provision exists in the Health Act 1947 as amended, nor the design of the mandatory quarantine system for the provision of care of persons outside of the mandatory quarantine system. Any such required support should be accessed through usual channels.

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