Covid-19: Ireland adds 16 countries to hotel quarantine list

The Irish Defence Forces are overseeing the process

The United States of America, Canada, France, Belgium and Italy are among 16 countries to be added to the Republic of Ireland's mandatory hotel quarantine list.

The Irish government has now identified 59 "high risk" countries.

From next week, travellers from these places must spend 12 nights and pay at least €1,875 (£1,614) to stay at one of 24 hotels across the Republic.

The measure will come into effect from 04:00 local time on 15 April.

Mandatory hotel quarantine for some international travellers has been in place there since 26 March.

At a meeting on Friday night, Irish government ministers discussed concerns over Covid-19 variants.

"These variants pose a significant risk to our fight against this disease and our vaccination programme," said Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.

Mr Donnelly also announced he intends to revoke the designation in place for Albania, Israel and St Lucia.

The Irish government has a portal for mandatory hotel quarantine bookings. Pre-booking is necessary.

The Tifco Hotel Group is responsible for transporting passengers from their arrival point to the quarantine hotels, and security.

The Irish Defence Forces oversee the process and escort the buses to the hotels.

The cost of a 12-night stay is €1,875 (£1,614) for one person, €625 (£535) for another adult (or child aged over 12) sharing the room, €360 (£308) for a child aged 4 to 12, with no charge for infants.

Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to €2,000 (£1,700) or a month in prison.

Which countries are high risk?

The new rules affect any passenger who was in one of the designated "high-risk" countries in the past 14 days, including those getting a connecting flight.

It also affects people who do not have a negative PCR test taken in the 72 hours prior to their arrival.

The "high-risk" list is subject to change at any time, and currently mainly comprises countries in South America and Africa, although Austria is also on the list.

Other countries include: Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Eswatini, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Suriname, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Countries added to the list on Friday are: Bangladesh, Belgium, France, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Pakistan, Turkey, the USA, Canada, Armenia, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Curaçao, Maldives, Ukraine.