Racegoers returning home from the Cheltenham Festival this weekend will not be screened at airports or face restrictions on movement upon their return home.
The week-long festival controversially went ahead, despite worldwide sporting events being cancelled and Ireland closing schools, colleges and public services until March 29 on Wednesday.
The UK currently has 798 cases of Covid-19, and is not considered an at-risk area, with the government assuring punters that they don't have to self-isolate when they return.
It's estimated that over 10,000 Irish people attended the four-day festival, with around 65,000 punters coming through the gates each day.
The decision to continue the festival in the face of the rapidly developing pandemic has faced much criticism, with the majority of sporting events in Ireland suspended until March 29 at the very least.
But the government and HSE have confirmed that there is no advice for people returning from the festival to self-isolate or restrict their movements.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has recommended that people returning from Spain or Italy restrict their movements, however.
Harris said: “That effectively means not going to work and to lessen your social contacts. They will be met by environmental health officers in the airport from today and given leaflets. They’ll be asked not quite to self-isolate but to restrict their movements,” he said.
On Cheltenham, Harris said that the UK is not being treated as an affected area to the same extent as Spain or Italy.
He said: "I know it seems counterintuitive to all of us here in Ireland as we are restricting mass gatherings and the likes, to see such a large one taking place in the UK, but the public health emergency team did consider this specifically last night, and it is a statement of fact that, as of now, the UK is not deemed to be an affected area in the same way as Spain or Italy."
There are currently 5,232 cases of the virus in Spain, while latest Italy figures say 17,660 have been infected.
