'Category 2' Countries List Extended by 26 New Entries

News

On 22 March, the Department of Health of Ireland designated a list of ‘Category 2’ countries, which showed high instances of COVID-19 cases or of variants of COVID-19 cases. Any passenger who has been in any of these Category 2 countries in the previous 14 days, even if only transiting through one of these countries and even if they remained airside, is legally required to quarantine at a designated facility, known as Mandatory Hotel Quarantine. This applies even if the passenger receives a negative RT-PCR test result after arriving in the State. Passengers must book into Mandatory Hotel Quarantine before traveling. Passengers will not be allow to board their flight/ vessel until evidence of a booking is provided. The current countries on the list are:

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

On 1^st April, the Department of Health designated an additional 26 countries and territories as ‘Category 2’. These are: Albania, Andorra, Aruba, Bahrain, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Ethiopia, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine, The Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Serbia, Somalia, and the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands.

All those intending to travel to Ireland from or via any of these countries/territories, or who have visited any of these countries in the last 14 days, who will arrive in Ireland after 04.00am on Tuesday 6 April are required to book accommodation for Mandatory Hotel Quarantine at least 48 hours in advance of travel.

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