By Michelle Devane and Cate McCurry, PA
The first group of people to face mandatory hotel quarantine in Ireland has arrived at the designated facility.
Around 20 passengers arriving into Dublin Airport on Friday were transferred by bus to the first quarantine centre at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry.
The bus was escorted by Army vehicles.
It marks the beginning of Ireland’s mandatory hotel quarantine system for passengers arriving from countries flagged as high risk for Covid-19 transmission.
As of 4am on Friday, all passengers from one of the 33 countries deemed high risk by the Government will have to quarantine for 12 nights at a hotel.
So far, 76 people have booked using the mandatory quarantine portal, which opened earlier this week, and 37 people are due to begin their stay at the hotel between now and the end of March.
The stay at the hotel could be reduced if a person receives a negative test for the virus taken on day 10 of quarantine.
Countries on the list include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.
Bookings
Travellers are required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility and to pre-pay for their stay.
The cost per adult traveller for a 12-night stay inclusive of all services is €1,875.
The Tifco Hotel Group, which has been appointed as the service provider, will provide full board accommodation, as well as ground transportation, security services and health and wellbeing services.
The Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel was the first hotel to begin receiving quarantining travellers.
All passengers arriving into Ireland from designated States after 04.00 on the morning of Friday, 26 March are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility, and to pre-pay for their stay.
Booking portal - https://t.co/wCoJAc6XiW. pic.twitter.com/kQoyojNqqG
— Irish Embassy Dar (@IrlEmbTanzania) March 24, 2021
If a person does not fulfil the legal requirement for mandatory hotel quarantine they are committing an offence, and can receive a fine of up to €2,500 and/or a six-month prison sentence.
The new quarantine rules also apply to any passenger who arrives from any other country without a negative PCR test for Covid-19 carried out no more than 72 hours before they arrive in Ireland.
Those passengers will have to pay a day rate of €150.
The Defence Forces will not be involved in the everyday security or care of passengers in mandatory hotel quarantining.
According to the Government’s Covid-19 guidelines, anyone who arrives into Ireland from a country not deemed high risk must quarantine at home provided they have a negative PCR test.
