Travelers to Ireland will be allowed to quarantine for a short period of time if they pass a COVID-19 PCR test performed at least five days after their arrival. Earlier, travelers from high-risk regions were expected to restrict their movement for 14 days from their entry into the country. However, regardless of their origin, travelers can now exit quarantine early.

Ireland is adapting to the EU’s ‘traffic light’ system of travel regulation

This new test-to-release provision is part of the country’s ongoing adaptation of its travel restrictions so that they are more in sync with the European Union’s (E.U.) ‘traffic light’ system for the regulation of international travel amid the pandemic. For now, only countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) are classified under the ‘traffic light’ model. Countries outside that region are all considered to be ‘red’. 

Two private companies Randox and RocDoc are operating their testing facilities at Dublin Airport. This facility offers customers the option of pre-booked appointments, walk-in testing or drive-thru testing. Both companies have the ability to administer 12,000 tests per day that will soon expand to 15,000. During a briefing held on November 27, Tánaiste (Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar explained, “there is no ban on international travel or people coming home,” to Ireland, but the government is asking people not to come if their purposes are non-essential.

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