DUBLIN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Ireland will ease travel curbs
for arrivals from "red" regions of Britain and the European
Union hardest hit by COVID-19 from Nov. 29 by cutting their
quarantine period to as little as five days from 14 currently if
they test negatively for the virus.
Ireland began implementing the EU's "traffic light" system
for non-essential EU travellers this week, ending some of the
bloc's tightest controls that were strongly opposed by its two
main airlines, Ryanair and Aer Lingus.
People arriving from "green" regions with fewer than 25
COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people in the last 14 days do
not need to restrict their movements, neither do those
travelling from "orange" areas if they produce a negative test
taken in the previous three days.
"Red" regions - those with infection rates of 50 or more per
100,000 and positive tests of 4% - must restrict their movement
for a minimum of five days before they can take a test that, if
returned negative, ends their quarantine, the government said.
Only Greenland is now categorised as a low-risk green
region, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention
and Control (ECDC), with Finland, Norway and parts of Greece
deemed to be orange.
Ireland's 14-day incidence of 152 cases per 100,000 is the
fifth lowest of the 31 countries monitored by the ECDC, having
fallen 51% compared to the previous two weeks after Ireland was
one of the first EU countries to reimpose lockdown measures.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
International Airlines (IAG)
