RED ALERT ON COVID-19

Experts’ alarm over dangers as 46,000 from high-risk Covid countries fly into Ireland within three weeks

ALMOST 46,000 people flew into Ireland from high-risk Covid countries such as the UK, Spain and the US within a three-week period, posing a major risk to our Covid-19 recovery.

Figures for passenger numbers entering Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports by country of origin reveal a worryingly high numbers of travellers arriving from countries on the Government’s Covid ‘red list’.

Leading infectious disease experts said last night the figure for arrivals from Covid hotbeds was worrying.

One infectious disease expert said it is ‘madness’ that there is no legally required quarantine in place here for

such travellers, warning that Covid-related travel cases can have a ‘catalytic effect’ on the country’s recovery efforts as has been seen in other countries.

With the country planning for the reopening of schools at the end of this month, a surge of Covid-19 cases could jeopardise that – and already this week there was 85 new cases reported in one day alone, on Thursday.

This surge has been seen by several health experts as a worrying escalation that has already raised doubts about moving into the final phase of lockdown.

But now new figures show almost 99,000 (98,946) passengers arrived into Dublin Airport, Cork Airport and Shannon Airport in the three weeks to July 19 – the majority from high-risk countries – with no mandatory quarantine in place once they arrive.

Of those passengers, 89.6% of them arrived into Dublin Airport.

Across all airports, more than 31,910 passengers arrived from the UK while 10,822 came from Spain, which is currently experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Spain recorded a daily rise of 1,153 coronavirus cases yesterday, a new record for post-lockdown cases and the third day in a row its figure has been above 1,000.

A total of 3,203 people flew into Dublin and Shannon airports from the US, which has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world and continues to see surges of the virus.

Just 9,205 passengers arrived into Ireland from our 15 ‘green list’ low-risk Covid countries which include Finland, Greenland and San Marino.

The most from this cohort came from Italy – with 3,128 such passengers arriving into Dublin Airport and Cork Airport.

Associate professor at Trinity College Dublin’s school of biochemistry and immunology Dr Tomás Ryan said last night the figures are ‘very worrying.’

He said that travel cases can have a ‘catalytic effect’ and can cause ‘surges’ which have been seen in other countries. ‘When you get a large number of travellers, they don’t behave the same way as residents,’ he said. ‘Unless those people are properly restricting their movements and not coming into contact with people, they are going to be spreading it.’

As it stands people who arrive in Ireland from abroad – including people resident here – are asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

Everyone who arrives here from another country must fill out a Covid-19 passenger locator form, and provide details on where they intend to self-isolate.

However, there is no mandatory quarantine by law – with the Government saying this would be ‘unworkable’. Prof. Ryan said that people coming in from highrisk countries such as the US should have to face mandatory quarantine – ‘ideally airport hotel quarantine for two weeks’.

Infectious disease ecologist at UCC Professor Gerard Killeen said it was ‘madness’ there was no mandatory quarantine in place for people arriving into the country.

‘Travel is a relatively small proportion of our problem at present but once we get closer to zero it starts to become the big remaining problem,’ he told the Mail.

‘The current very lax attitude to this thing is very disturbing.’

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, who obtained the figures yesterday, said it was ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ for the Government to continue to allow people to come into Ireland from countries where the level of Covid-19 is so high without comprehensive precautions.

She said: ‘The Government has failed to get a grip on the huge risk this inward travel poses to people in Ireland. There is still no Covid19 testing at the airport, still little information for incoming passengers and still massive confusion as to what exact level of isolation is required of people entering the country from countries with very high levels of Covid-19. We have also seen that there is risible follow-up with incoming passengers.

‘It is long past time to develop a “red” list of countries where inward travel to Ireland is not allowed, except for stated exemptions.’

Yesterday, the Department of Health announced an additional 38 new cases of Covid-19 with no additional deaths.

The passenger figures – which do not include passengers transferring to another flight in the airports – came on the day that saw airline woes mount over travel.

Yesterday it was revealed that Aer Lingus is considering closing bases at Cork and Shannon airports, with up to 350 jobs at risk. It comes as part of the airline’s plans to lay off around 500 workers.

Aer Lingus owners IAG reported a pre-tax loss yesterday of €4.2billion for the first half of the year. Ongoing travel restrictions have led to Aer Lingus losing €316million alone so far this year.

The airline’s chief executive, Seán Doyle, told staff yesterday that jobs would be cut on a ‘compulsory basis if necessary’.

‘The lax attitude to this is disturbing’

Willie Walsh, CEO of parent company IAG, said it will be years before air travel returns to normal levels.

There are also fears among Dublin Airport workers that Terminal 2 could shut permanently as the Dublin Airport Authority is haemorrhaging €1million a day due to the collapse in air travel.

Ryanair, meanwhile, has initiated legal proceedings against the State questioning the legality of travel restrictions that have kept a quarantine policy in place for all but 15 countries.

The airline said it had begun the action to challenge what it described as the Government’s ‘ineffective’ green list of countries, for which a 14-day quarantine requirement does not apply.

IAG, which owns Irish airline Aer Lingus, has joined as a notice party to the court proceedings.

The country’s green list is due to be reviewed next week.