THE CHIEF MEDICAL Officer Dr Tony Holohan has urged the public to avoid travelling abroad and to plan domestic holidays this summer instead.

New data from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) this evening showed there has been a recent increase in the number of cases of Covid-19 in Ireland which were transmitted as a result of travel.

Professor Philip Nolan of the NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group revealed that 13 cases of the virus have been imported from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Portugal, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the US in the last two weeks.

The figures follow plans outlined by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night for a so-called ‘green list’ of countries where travel to and from Ireland will be permitted from 9 July.

Currently, people who arrive in Ireland from abroad – including people resident here – are asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

Everyone who arrives here from another country must fill out a Covid-19 passenger locator form, and provide details on where they intend to self-isolate. 

The two-week quarantine rule sparked anger among airlines, including Aer Lingus and Ryanair, which claimed it was unnecessary and effectively unenforceable.

As part of the proposed lifting of foreign travel restrictions, checks and controls at ports and airports will be increased, and the passenger locator form will go online.

But speaking at the NPHET’s press briefing this evening, Holohan explained that a ‘green list’ is still conceptual and would be subject to ongoing changes if it was compiled now.

“There are many countries right now that would not be on such a list, and it’s quite impossible, given that today is 26 June, to say what countries will be on that list on 9 July,” the Chief Medical Officer said.

“If you’d ask me what countries would be on that list of we’d constructed such a list a week ago, some of those countries would not be on that list today.

“And I accept that that creates a challenge for people in terms of plans, in terms of forward booking.”

Holohan said that if and when such a list is compiled, the NPHET would have to be satisfied that levels of Covid-19 transmission in the countries on it was decreasing, and that their data was trustworthy and reliable after 9 July.

He also noted that despite reports that the list could come into effect on that date, the NPHET’s public health advice remained for people to avoid non-essential foreign travel, not to plan trips abroad, and for tourists in other countries not to plan trips to Ireland. 

“I think that planning a stay-cation would be a good thing. It wouldn’t involve the risk of travel to other countries,” Holohan said.

“Stay-cations make sense. And it fits very well with something I’ve seen over the course of this entire pandemic: the solidarity of the population and the whole of the community supporting one another through this.

“I certainly intend to, if I manage to get a few days off, ensure that I spend whatever money I can spend in this country, supporting business and activity in this country.”

He added that although he understood the position of airlines and was aware they were marketing trips abroad, his advice to the public was to listen to the NPHET and not airlines.

TheJournal.ie previously reported that air bridge deals could be struck with France, Portugal, Germany, and perhaps Greece.

Other countries, such as the UK, are also exploring the idea of creating links with nations to allow citizens to pass freely without any Covid-related restrictions placed upon them.

With reporting from Adam Daly.