Staff at a hotel used to house passengers in mandatory quarantine are not taking Covid-19 tests because of differing shift patterns.
Testing is offered to staff at the Crowne Plaza in Santry on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from 8am to 10.30am.
Only rostered staff are allowed on-site at any time due to Covid-19 restrictions, meaning those who do not work those specific hours are missing out on testing.
Emails to staff, seen by The Irish Examiner, state: “If you are due to work on one of these mornings please drop in to see the HSE team on that morning. Please ensure that you make every effort to attend at one of these sessions every week.”
However, due to the narrow window for testing, many who work in the hotel are not being tested because they do not work during the specified hours and days.
Vaccinations
Some Tifco Hotel Group management personnel were vaccinated in March by the HSE at a centre operated by the National Ambulance Service at St Mary’s Hospital in Phoenix Park.
A hotel source confirmed that those who got vaccines were senior managers and other staff who do not normally have face-to-face interactions with customers.
Most of the staff who deal with the rooms where guests are staying have not been vaccinated.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: “The Department of Health is in constant contact with Tifco Hotel Group about all issues relating to the management of mandatory hotel quarantine.
“At all times, our priority is to ensure that everyone completing their period of mandatory quarantine is comfortable and secure.”
They added: “As part of the mandatory quarantine process, Tifco hotel staff, their contractors [transport, security, medical], and the Defence Forces in their State liaison official role, who are interacting directly with those in mandatory quarantine, will be tested and vaccinated. This process has begun.”
