Irish people hoping to jet abroad the popular European holiday destinations are being warned to avoid areas with high rates of Covid-19.
New data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows that three of the countries most popular with holidaymakers from Ireland are showing high incidence rates of the virus.
Every week, the ECDC publishes new maps to support the EU Council's recommendation on travel measures across the bloc during the pandemic.
'Red' zones are areas where the 14-day incidence rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 of the population is more than 200 but less than 500.
'Dark red' regions are where the 14-day incidence rate of cases per 100,000 of the population is 500 or more.
The latest maps published by the ECDC for the weeks 31 to 32 this year show that several regions popular with Irish holidaymakers are either red or dark red.
In Spain, every region is either red or dark red, with the same indicators shown for France.
The third country most frequented by Irish tourists, Portugal, is also deemed a 'red zone' in its entirety.
Greece, meanwhile, also features red and dark red zones.
The guidelines published by the European Commission state: "In view of the difficult epidemiological situation linked to more infectious coronavirus variants, Member States should strongly discourage all non-essential travel to and from ‘dark red’ and discourage all such travel to and from ‘red’ areas.
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However, it is still legal for holidaymakers to travel to these countries from Ireland thanks to the Digital Covid Cert.
This document shows whether someone has been vaccinated against coronavirus, has recovered or recently tested negative.
Irish people are being reminded that different nations can implement their own restrictions on travellers entering their country.
The European Commission adds, on the basis of the maps provided by the ECDC: "Member States will then decide whether they introduce certain restrictions, such as quarantine or tests, on travellers coming from other areas. Member States have agreed that there will be no restrictions, such as quarantine or testing, on travellers coming from ‘green’ regions.
"Member States that consider it necessary to introduce restrictions to free movement, based on their own decision-making processes, could require persons travelling from an area classified other than ‘green’ to:
- undergo quarantine/self-quarantine; and/or
- take a test for COVID-19 infection before or after arrival.
"It is up to Member States to decide what measures to apply on people travelling from risk areas to their territories, and whether to require a RT-PCR or rapid antigen test. Member States can also require people entering their territory to submit passenger locator forms, in accordance with data protection requirements."
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