Total of 75 people left mandatory hotel quarantine without permission

A total of 75 people who arrived in Ireland left mandatory hotel quarantine (MHQ) without permission within the first three months of the system being introduced.

These people arrived from “designated” countries, which had a high rate of Covid-19.

Twenty-four people returned voluntarily after engaging with gardaí, according to figures originally released by the Department of Health to the Sunday Times.

A number of these people also left the State immediately after leaving MHQ.

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“Twenty-four of these people voluntarily returned to MHQ soon after leaving, with the assistance of [gardaí] applying their four Es approach,” the Department said in a statement to The Irish Times.

The gardaí’s four Es approach refers to their policing of Covid-19 restrictions, which are: engage, explain, encourage and enforce.

The Department said they understood that a number of people left the jurisdiction immediately after leaving MHQ.

"An Garda Síochána are notified of all unauthorised departures from MHQ and are actively following up on all the remaining cases."

As of June 24th, 6,825 people have entered MHQ. The system began on March 26th of this year.

Majority

The Department of Health stressed that the vast majority of people have completed their MHQ without any issues or incidents. “Over the first three months there have been 75 unauthorised departures, which represents one per cent of the total MHQ entrants to date.”

As of June 18th, 274 people have tested positive for Covid-19 while quarantining in a hotel.

People who are in MHQ are allowed to appeal to the Department for early release and they can be permitted to leave early, if they meet certain criteria.

A total of 2,304 appeals have been lodged to the Department since June 18th, but just 308 of these have been granted.

The Health Act 1947, amended in 2021, means that all people arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility.

The duration of stay in the designated countries does not matter, so travellers who transited or changed flights in a designated state must also quarantine.

People can avoid MHQ if they are an exempted traveller under the Act, or if they have been vaccinated with an EMA (European Medicines Agency) approved vaccine.

If people arrive in Ireland from a designated country and they fail to complete mandatory quarantine in a hotel, they could face a €2,000 fine and/or be jailed for a month.