Ireland may strengthen measures at airports after quarantine criticism

Ireland will consider strengthening measures at airports to implement 14-day quarantine restrictions on people travelling from abroad, its tourism minister said on Monday, following criticism by opposition politicians and tourism operators that visitors are not complying. Ireland introduced the voluntary rule in April, and from late May required incoming travellers to provide the address where they will self-isolate. It plans to move to an electronic system capturing data from airlines and ferry operators shortly. Restaurant, hotel and pub owners took to Twitter over the weekend to say they turned away customers from the US after learning they had not self-isolated for 14 days. "The cabinet will be discussing measures this week that may be needed, such as strengthening measures at airports, ahead of issuing a possible green list of countries," Tourism Minister Catherine Martin said. Ireland plans to publish on July 20 a "green list" of countries whose residents will be exempt from the quarantine rule but has said it will be limited to a small number and based on the amount of new COVID-19 cases, the trend, and quality of testing and tracing in qualifying countries.<br/>