Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
567. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Health if he will consider allowing incoming and returning visitors and or citizens to avail of and pay for the spare Covid-19 testing capacity to confirm if these persons have the virus; and if the test is negative can they dispense with the 14-day isolation requirement. [12636/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the number of indigenous cases here declines and Ireland eases some restrictions, the relative importance of the risk of importation of cases from overseas increases. Ultimately, the progress towards suppression of community transmission which has been achieved and which should allow for greater resumption of social and economic life in Ireland could be endangered.
Some countries have implemented, or are considering implementing, requirements for a recent negative RT-PCR test. The ECDC advice is that the evidence base is unclear. Covid-19 testing is a point in time test and only detects if you have the virus at time of testing. It confers no guarantee that the individual with a 'not detected' result before travelling is not incubating the infection or the level of virus is below detectable levels at the time of the test as the virus incubation period is known to be 214 days.
Waiving self-quarantine requirements on the basis of a negative test on arrival would be at odds with testing policy domestically in Ireland, where there is no scenario where testing is used to expedite a reduction of restrictions. While a positive test for a suspected case will escalate contact tracing protocols, asymptomatic close contacts – even with two negative tests - are required to restrict their movements for the remainder of the 14 day period.
In the absence of a test that definitively shows that a passenger arriving from overseas neither has nor is incubating the virus, the public health advice for passengers arriving into the State from overseas is to self-isolate for 14 days – the duration of possible incubation. I would ask that all persons arriving into the State follow this advice, and indeed all public health advice, as closely as they can. Persons arriving from Northern Ireland, international transport workers, including airline and maritime workers, and supply chain workers are not asked to self-isolate.
Information for those who are self-isolating and for people living with those who are self-isolating is published by the HSE on www.hse.ie. Information resources on self-isolation are also available on the website of the HSPC, and these have been translated into a number of languages.
