Poland gets travel okay, as green list rules are relaxed

GERMANY, Sweden and Poland are expected to be added to Ireland’s green list for overseas travel, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said.

And new rules will mean visitors from a list of countries with a Covid-19 infection rate of under 25 cases per 100,000 over the previous two weeks can skip a 14-day quarantine.

Previously, the green list was made up of countries with lower infection rates than Ireland, but the Government stopped updating it when cases here surged above 45 cases per 100,000. The Government will broadly support the European Commission’s traffic light approach on travel, which is due to be approved by an EU General Affairs Council meeting on October 13.

The green list will be amended and should include countries such as Germany and Sweden, both with the number of cases per 100,000 in the previous fortnight in the 20s . Poland, Iceland and Cyprus would also qualify. However

Spain (270.7), France (153.9) and the UK (51.1) would still be off the list. It is expected that a day’s notice will be given to allow people time to return before restrictions apply.

Ten countries are on the current green list: Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Slovakia. Under the new scheme, orange areas will be those with a 14-day rate of under 50 per 100,000 and infection rate of over 3%, or where the 14-day rate ranges between 25 and 150 and the positivity rate is under 3%. Countries and regions marked as red will have a 14-day incidence rate of 50 or more and positivity rate of 3% or above, or if the 14-day rate is more than 150.

Yesterday, however Ryanair said in a statement: ‘We need Ireland’s green list updated TODAY and include all lower Covid case EU countries including Germany (22), Sweden (22) and Poland (18). Irish aviation and tourism cannot delay another week or month.’