James Cox
Two special repatriation flights have returned over 350 Irish residents who were stranded in Britain.
The consular flights, operated by Ryanair and Aer Lingus, carried passengers along with a number of people who were accommodated on ferry routes.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said a “very limited service” will continue to assist Irish citizens who were due to travel home through British airports when the restrictions were imposed, or Irish residents who can prove that they were only temporarily in the UK and need to return home.
The service will not be available to Irish citizens who are permanently living, studying or working in Britain.
Further information is available on the Department of Foreign Affairs website.
New advice
Meanwhile, the HSE has issued new advice for anyone that has returned to Ireland from the UK since December 8th.
People returning are now advised to self-isolate for 14 days and contact a GP to arrange a Covid-19 test after five days.
HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said: “It is important to reassure everyone, that all viruses mutate and change, which can lead to new strains of the virus emerging. However, early analysis of this new strain of Covid-19 suggests that it is significantly more transmissible than other strains but there is currently no information to suggest that this new strain leads to a more severe infection.
“We don’t yet know if the virus has spread outside Great Britain, but we may see cases in Ireland. Our current protective actions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are still the best protection we have against all strains of this virus.”
