Paul Murphy warns Delta surge, urges mandatory hotel quarantine

Paul Murphy warned that the Delta variant poses a serious threat to public health and the country's reopening, citing rising local cases and the UK experience despite a well-advanced vaccination programme. He urged the Taoiseach to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine for a limited period and to shorten the interval between vaccine doses for older, vulnerable people.

Delta variant risk and local cases

The Deputy said cases rose from 70 to 130-plus in three weeks and described the Delta variant as about 50% more transmissible. He warned that one dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer is not very effective against this variant and that it could beat the race to get people fully vaccinated, endangering people's health and lives and jeopardising the ability to reopen society.

Concerns about at-home quarantine

He argued that extending at-home quarantine "does not cut it", noting many people cannot quarantine at home and that there is no supervisory mechanism to enforce it.

Call for temporary mandatory hotel quarantine

He asked whether the Taoiseach would move to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine "for a period of a couple of months" to allow the state to stay ahead of the Delta variant.

Vaccine dosing for older and vulnerable groups

He pressed the Taoiseach to act to reduce the time period between doses for older, more vulnerable categories so they are not left vulnerable to this variant.

Reference to the UK's response

He asked if the Taoiseach had discussed the Delta variant with the Prime Minister, pointing out that in the UK, even with a well-advanced vaccination programme, the spread of Delta forced a delay in reopening.