By Cate McCurry & Kevin Galvin
A Waterford TD has criticised the government's new quarantine rules, saying they don't go far enough.
Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane has said full mandatory quarantine is needed in Ireland, to combat the spread of the virus, which has grown exponentially since the beginning of the new year, with more new cases in January than the entirety of 2020.
New measures introduced by government on international travel include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in Ireland without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours. All passengers entering the country will be subject to mandatory quarantine — a change from the policy of voluntary self-isolation.
"That's a half baked measure" says Cullinane " I think the government haven't gone the full road in relation to this.
"We need absolute clarity in realtion to what they are proposing, but we also need universal quarantine and mandatory testing in relation to international travel.
"If that means mandatory quarantine hotels, then so be it. The public health advice at the moment is that we should remove the question in relation to these measures, and they are very clear that they support mandatory testing."
Today at the Oireachtas Health Committee I questioned Dr Ronan Glynn on the issue of mandatory quarantine for those travelling onto the island. His response was clear - public health advice is that mandatory quarantine should be considered. It’s now over to Government. pic.twitter.com/BRB5SguQO6
— David Cullinane T.D. (@davidcullinane) January 22, 2021
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he will do “whatever it takes” to keep numbers down, telling the Dáil there will be “no half measures” to ensure a “prolonged suppression” of Covid-19 but today Liz Canavan from the department of the Taoiseach confirmed that many of the people arriving in the ports and airports are Irish citizens returning from trips abroad.
"Under level five rules, nobody should be travelling abroad unless it is for a genuinely essential need. That does not includes holidays, visiting relatives or friends, or staying in a second home."
Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald said the government's proposals on international travel was the 'biggest mess' from the government announcement, which she said “not only goes against public health advice, it goes against common sense.”
“It’s not a system of mandatory quarantine. It is in fact one of voluntary self-isolation and you propose to send people back to homes and other accommodation with other people — people who may be going out to work, people who will go into our shops and stores and therefore risk the spreading of this virus,” she added.
“That to me is absolutely crazy.”
