Coronavirus: NI to bring in 14-day quarantine for travellers

Anyone who enters Northern Ireland from outside the Common Travel Area will be required to self isolate for 14 days.

The requirement is part of new quarantine regulations being prepared by the Northern Ireland Executive.

The quarantine rules are being drawn up by the health department and will apply to anyone who has been abroad within a fortnight of their arrival.

A similar quarantine requirement is already in place in the Republic of Ireland.

The Common Travel Area covers the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is to make a statement to the House of Commons later on Wednesday on the quarantine rules in England, which will be in force from 8 June and will be accompanied by potential £1,000 fines.

Concerns have been raised that passengers travelling via Dublin Airport may not be subject to Northern Ireland's quarantine rules.

Those in transit to Northern Ireland via Dublin are only being asked to fill out part of the form which the Irish authorities are requiring passengers to sign on arrival.

However, a Department of Health spokesperson told BBC News NI it will be an offence to breach the self-isolation requirements regardless of how you have travelled to Northern Ireland.

Asked what arrangements have been put in place to share data on incoming passengers with the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Health said work is still under way to finalise information sharing between the two jurisdictions.

Asked about what the level of fines will be in Northern Ireland, the department says this is yet to be determined.