Paul Murphy urges hotel quarantine as Delta cases rise
Paul Murphy warned in the Dáil about the spread of the Delta variant and urged measures including mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers from Britain. He pressed the government on plans to reopen indoor hospitality on 5 July and on the need for ventilation regulations and funding.
Delta variant rise and quarantine calls
Paul Murphy said he had raised the need to slow the spread of the Delta variant a month earlier and again with the Taoiseach. He highlighted that Delta now accounts for one in five cases in Ireland and called for mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers from Britain.
Comparisons with other countries
He noted that the United Kingdom had slowed and delayed its reopening and that Belgium had closed its borders to travellers from Britain to limit Delta’s spread. He argued these developments show the variant’s higher transmissibility warrants caution.
Vaccination concerns in hospitality
Murphy warned that one dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca is not very effective against the Delta variant and stressed that young people make up a majority of hospitality staff and are overwhelmingly not vaccinated. He used this to underline the sector’s vulnerability.
Reopening date and ventilation questions
He asked whether the government still planned to go ahead with reopening indoor hospitality on 5 July and demanded action on ventilation, saying experts have been calling for new regulations and funding for proper ventilation in indoor hospitality and elsewhere.
Government monitoring and public health advice
In response, the government said it is concerned, has set up a special group of senior officials and that the CMO and his team are examining the data. Officials said they will take public health advice, keep vaccination strategy, ventilation and the overall reopening under close review, and noted the UK had paused some elements of its planned opening such as nightclubs and the ending of social distancing.
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A month ago, I raised in the Dáil the need for us to take action to slow down the spread of the Delta variant in Ireland, including mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers from Britain. I raised it again with the Taoiseach last week, and he said that the government is not taking any risk in terms of this. When I first raised it, we had a small number of Delta variant cases in Ireland. Now, one in five of the cases are Delta variant. We know that in Britain, they have slowed down and delayed the reopening. We know that Belgium has now closed its borders to travellers from Britain in order to stop the spread of the Delta variant. We know that it's more transmissible. We know that one dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca isn't very effective against it. We know that young people who make up a majority of the staff in the hospitality sector have overwhelmingly not been vaccinated. But does the government still think that it's not taking any risks? Are you still planning to go ahead with the reopening of indoor hospitality on the 5th of July? And are you planning to do anything about the crucial issue of ventilation, which the experts have been screaming about for a year, in terms of new regulations and funding, to mean that there is proper ventilation in indoor hospitality and elsewhere? In terms of Deputy Murphy's point, could I say that the government is concerned about the Delta variant, has been concerned about the Delta variant, and has been monitoring it very carefully. We set up a special group within government of senior officials to keep a very close eye on the progress and trajectory of the variant. And indeed, the United Kingdom has slowed down its opening, although its opening was far more advanced than our opening. It hasn't, for example, stopped what it has already done, but it certainly has not gone ahead with nightclubs and the ending of social distancing, for example, which I thought was always a bit ambitious. But nonetheless, they've stopped that because of the higher transmissibility of the Delta variant. And we're going to have to examine this. We will take public health advice, and the CMO and his team are examining this, and the most recent data does indicate a higher incidence of the Delta variant now in Ireland, which is a matter of significant concern. We have to look at this in a number of fronts, in terms of even our vaccination strategy, in terms of ventilation, yes, absolutely. And also, you know, we'll keep the whole reopening strategy under close review as well, in terms of the, as we always do, and as we've said all along the way, everything we do is subject to ongoing public health advice.
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