RTÉ News assumes that the contract for the mandatory hotel quarantine system will be awarded to the Tifco Hotel Group.
The group has 24 hotel properties with a total of 2,550 rooms.
Hotels include the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express next to Dublin Airport, and Travelodge hotels at Dublin and Cork Airports.
With the individual contract, the hotel group will provide room and board for those who need to be quarantined.
It also includes arrangements for transportation to the hotels as well as security and testing there.
The Minister of Public Spending said earlier today that the hotel quarantine system for arrivals from certain countries is due to go into effect by the end of this week.
Michael McGrath told RTÉ News that his cabinet colleague, Health Secretary Stephen Donnelly, will explain how the regime will work in the coming days.
The news comes two weeks after the mandatory hotel quarantine law was signed and given ongoing concerns about thousands of people flying into the country, particularly from “high risk” countries like Brazil and South Africa.
There are 33 countries, mostly in Africa and South America, on the government’s Category 2 list of “High Risk” countries.
Brazil and South Africa were the first two nations to be classified as high risk on February 5th. On February 12, 18 states were added to the list.
They were: Angola, Austria, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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“It’s a very significant encroachment on civil liberties, but it’s for the common good.”@mmcgrathtd Hotel quarantine measures in Ireland are said to come into effect at the end of next week More: https://t.co/ZLpXs8BTID pic.twitter.com/QbnDfOZVID
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 21, 2021
“We have made great strides on this issue,” said McGrath, “and an agreement has now been reached with the selected operator and the next day Secretary Stephen Donnelly will provide more details on the operational nature of the company.” Hotel quarantine to ensure hotel quarantine that will go into effect later this week. “
When asked what time it was since the laws were passed and then enacted, he said, “This is a very complex issue that seriously affects people’s civil liberties, but for the common good, and so it was the government . ” Determined to get this right and get it done.
“On the next day or so, the Minister of Health will provide full operational details for the hotel quarantine in Ireland to take effect later this week for people from currently 33 countries and will review the appropriate measures.” the health advice on amending this list in the coming days. “
Meanwhile, Mr McGrath confirmed that the government will be working with the National Public Health Emergency Team over the coming week to discuss what restrictions can be eased, even though the number of new Covid-19 cases has remained constant over the past few days 500 per day.
(Image: Rolling News)
“While it appears that progress has stalled and it certainly is that the lower the virus counts we can get, the more options the government has in the coming days, we are aware of the tremendous effort and the really aware of sacrifices that people continue to make to quell this virus.
“So for the next week we’re going to be focusing on low-risk activities that can greatly improve well-being and mental health, as I think it’s important that we bring relief to people without endangering or harming the giants.” endanger. ” Progress that we have made as a country. “
He said Ireland is still “one of the best performers in Europe” when it comes to new case numbers, “so we should recognize these extraordinary people’s efforts”.
“I know it is difficult if we keep asking people to do more and continue their efforts, but we have made tremendous strides and I think that over the next week as a government we will be focused on working for us deploy public health experts in low risk areas: activities that greatly improve mental health and wellbeing, with an emphasis on nature “.
He said it was “not helpful to speculate on the detail” of what these activities will be, “because people want security and will hear from the government the final decision, but what we will do now over a period of time have signposted, this is. ” that the areas we will focus on are low risk areas that improve wellbeing and mental health as we recognize the great challenge all of this poses to people and to our society. “
“Particularly in areas with low-risk activities, some relief needs to be granted.”@mmcgrathtd Says “tremendous strides” have been made against Covid-19 and that there is a need to bring relief to people without jeopardizing that progress More https://t.co/ZLpXs8BTID pic.twitter.com/XsvZLymyAC
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 21, 2021
He said there was “ongoing cabinet-level discussions” about Covid-19 and the restrictions, “but a few weeks ago we made it clear that the restrictions we had decided on would stay in place until April 5th, so now for the next week or so we will reassess the situation in light of the prevailing public health recommendations and the situation with the virus. “
“We have made massive strides, we want to make further progress in the next week or so, and we want to give hope to people, and we recognize the tremendous effort that people have made.
On vaccines, he said the government was “very confident that we will see fairly rapid progress” in terms of supply and management “in the second quarter, and that this will give the government more options in terms of reopening society and the world give reopening our economy. “
He added, “I know it has been challenging and frustrating. The limitation has been international supplies of our vaccines, but all indications are that vaccine supplies will triple in the second quarter from the second quarter 1 and.” we’ll make sure these are given as soon as possible so we can all feel the benefits of this vaccination program as a society. “
Additional coverage: Conor Kane
