NEW EXEMPTIONS FROM MANDATORY HOTEL QUARANTINE IN IRELAND (as of 20 April 2021)

UPDATES ON MANDATORY HOTEL QUARANTINE (MHQ) IN IRELAND;

NEW EXEMPTIONS FROM MHQ

(as of 20 April 2021)

• In relation to our update on 7 April 2021 on the Mandatory Hotel Quarantine in Ireland, please take note that several changes have taken place as follows:

Special Arrangements for Passengers Fully Vaccinated With Approved COVID-19 Vaccines

(in effect from 12am on 17th April 2021)

• The Minister for Health, Ireland has amended the law on mandatory hotel quarantine such that an additional exemption now applies where a person can prove they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

• Arrivals seeking to avail of this exemption must have documentary evidence of having received a full course of one of the following vaccines and have completed the final dose of that vaccine a sufficient period prior to travel to Ireland to be regarded as fully vaccinated. Details as follows:

• Only these vaccines, which are the equivalent of those recommended by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and approved by the European Commission, are acceptable in order to qualify for this exemption.

• Travellers will have to carry with them a Certification of Vaccination to prove their exemption. For the purposes of this exemption a Certification of Vaccination means a record or evidence in written or electronic form in the Irish language or the English language, or, where in a language other than the Irish or English language, an official translation into the Irish or English language, that contains the following information:

• confirmation that the person to whom the certification applies is a vaccinated person;
• the date or dates on which the person was vaccinated;
• the body in the state concerned implementing the vaccination programme (howsoever described) on behalf of that state that administered or caused to be administered the vaccination to the person concerned.

• An unvaccinated dependent person (including minors) travelling with a fully vaccinated person, who is exempt from Mandatory Hotel Quarantine, is also exempt from Mandatory Hotel Quarantine.

• A person who is exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine or released from hotel quarantine early is still legally required:

• to have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and
• to complete a period of self-quarantine at home/at the address given on the Passenger Locator Form.

Exemption for families travelling with new born babies

• An exemption is now in place for families with new-born babies who are no more than 28 days old, including those who have travelled to a designated state for the purpose of surrogacy.

• Passengers in these circumstances will also be required to have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and to complete a period of self-quarantine at home/ at the address given on the Passenger Locator Form

ADDITIONAL NOTE

• The Government of Ireland advises against all non-essential international travel. All travellers coming into Ireland must:

• complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form; and

• provide evidence that you have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 RT-PCR test carried out no more than 72 hours before you arrive into Ireland, or have evidence that you are exempt from this legal requirement

Further information on travelling to Ireland during the pandemic and the mandatory quarantine can be found at:

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b4020-travelling-to-ireland-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Thank you.

Embassy of Malaysia, Dublin, Ireland

20 April 2021