The Government has confirmed some changes have been made to the international travel advice as the Omicron variant starts to spread in Ireland.
Just moments before Micheál Martin appeared on The Tonight Show, a Government spokesperson announced new advice pertaining to people who want to enter Ireland from Great Britain.
On Thursday, another 4,022 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed and 530 people were in hospital of which 115 are being treated in ICU.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan said an additional five Omicron cases had been confirmed, bringing to six the total number of cases that have been identified following whole genome sequencing.
And it is with this in mind that the Government has brought in some sweeping changes.
The new travel advice are as follows:
- Passengers arriving from Great Britain will be advised to undertake daily antigen tests for five consecutive days, beginning with the day of arrival (and to self-isolate immediately and seek a PCR test if they develop symptoms or have a positive antigen test).
- Government communications on COVID-19 will be updated to emphasise that everyone should take account of their overall health, their vaccine status, and the spread of Omicron in other countries before they decide to trave
- Anyone eligible for a booster vaccine should avail of it where possible, if contemplating international travel in the near future
- The current requirement for all overseas passengers to have a “not-detected” pre-departure Covid test (antigen or PCR, depending on vaccine recovery status) will continue to apply
- Airlines and ferry companies will continue to check pre-departure test compliance, with spot-checking by border management officials also maintained at points of arrival
When asked if he can rule out more restrictions before Christmas, the Taoiseach said “I can’t say that,” adding “we have to follow what is happening in respect of Omicron.”
Mr Martin repeatedly expressed concern about the Omicron variant and said the “booster [vaccine] is the primary weapon we have in terms of protecting ourselves against Covid and covid levels are still high.”
He said: "It's challenging but the early signs are that we are looking at a more infectious variant that may not, but the jury is well out on this, may not be as damaging from a disease perspective.
“We await more consolidated scientific advice on how severe an impact Omicron will have on people’s health in terms of admission to hospital and ICU.
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