Ireland exempts Portugal from safe travel list, worsening tourism prospects

The Irish government’s recently publish safe travel list consists of a mere 13 European countries, and two national territories (Gibraltar and Greenland), all of which have an equal or lesser number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants than Ireland: Malta, Finland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece, Monaco and San Marino.

The Irish Government released the decision early this morning following a long discussion that began on Tuesday and showed internal divisions between the ministers that make up the two major Irish parties: the centrist Fianna Fáil and the Christian Democrat Fine Gael, as well as the greens.

Some ministers considered that the new measure could cause confusing messages to citizens because the government's official position corresponds to the judgments of the Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). This organization continues to defend that traveling abroad should not be done, whatever the destination.

"If the recommendation on travel to countries included in the 'green list' is no different from that of other countries (on travel), then it would be better if there was no 'green list'," warned the deputy prime minister and former head of the government, Christian Democrat Leo Varadkar.

Even so, the Dublin executive, after publishing the list, released a statement saying that "the public health recommendations remain the same" since the pandemic "is not over" adding that "the safest thing is not to travel".

The Government also says it will reinforce the quarantine surveillance measures (14 days) that must be followed by all passengers entering the country "from any destination", even if it is not present on the published list, a measure that must also be followed by any resident in the Republic of Ireland.

Dublin also indicated that it will review the situation and the composition of the "green list" within two weeks. Official figures show that there were no deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours within Ireland. The death toll from the disease is 1,753, with 36 new infections being detected since Tuesday. The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country is 25,802.

Dublin health officials have warned that there is an increase in the "virus reproduction rate" and an "increase in the incidence of the disease among young people", a situation that could cause up to  new cases in the coming weeks.

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