‘Red list’ tourists should be isolated in hotel, says GP

PEOPLE returning from countries not on the Government’s green list should be automatically quarantined in the Citywest hotel instead of self-isolating in their homes, according to a leading GP.

Currently, anyone returning from a ‘redlisted’ country is asked to contact their GP for a sick cert and isolate at home for 14 days. But, GPs are questioning both the efficiency and ethics of this system.

The HSE has used the Citywest hotel complex as a self-isolation facility since April 1, at an estimated cost of €24.5m.

Dr Ilona Duffy, medical director of the North-East GP services, said: ‘People are being advised to get a sick cert. We need people to isolate. But if we don’t pay them anything, they are going to go into work and just lie about where they have been. Surely there is a better way.’

Dr Duffy said it was becoming an issue as a minority disregarded the travel restrictions. There are just 10 countries on the green list including Greece and Italy but not popular destinations like France or Spain. The list is renewed every two weeks.

‘Given that we are paying for Citywest, surely that’s where people should be put. If you started doing that, you might find people are less likely to think about going away on holidays to red countries,’ she said. It can take up to 14 days for Covid-19 symptoms to show. Countries with a low transmission rate, including New Zealand and Thailand, have an automatic quarantine requirement.

‘If, as we know, these people are coming back into the country, surely the better thing would be if they were put into an isolation facility like other countries are doing,’ she said.

A HSE spokeswoman said 1,265 people have used the self-isolation facilities at the Citywest hotel complex so far. As of Tuesday there were 174 people staying there. She said there are currently no plans to use the facility for people arriving from ‘red-listed’ countries.

She said: ‘The HSE has no established or approved plan to extend Citywest at present albeit that the requirement for the ongoing provision of self-isolation facilities beyond October is currently being examined and progressed.’

Countries on the green list are Estonia, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Slovakia, while the other countries on the list, Finland, Norway and Lithuania, have quarantine restrictions on people arriving into them. Nevertheless, the Government has been strongly advising against any foreign travel except for essential purposes.

Dr Duffy also raised concerns about the pace of contact tracing over the last 10 days. She said: ‘I think it is really frightening. GPs are saying to me the numbers are rising, we are all getting the odd cases that are positive. And now we are saying can we be sure they are locking down? Can we be sure they are being contact traced?’

She added: ‘GPs are saying there are delays in the contact tracing, and we have to look at this. This is a public health emergency.’

The ability of contact tracers to follow up if people refuse to get tested is also an issue. Some of her patients have told her they won’t go for a test as they somehow already know their symptoms are not Covid-19.

‘We are not going to win this battle if we are not able to find out who has been in touch with people and act on that,’ she said.

However, she said the shocking number of cases in meat factories appears to have inspired other workplaces to take swifter action. This week a number of local businesses contacted her for advice on allowing employees to work from home or to get signed off sick because one person in the workplace was awaiting results.

‘It can take 14 days for symptoms to show’

‘GPs are saying there are delays in contact tracing’