Covid-19: Mandatory hotel quarantine set for Republic of Ireland

Travellers to the Republic of Ireland from coronavirus hotspots will have to quarantine in hotels under new legislation.

The Irish cabinet has signed off on primary legislation to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine for passengers arriving from 20 countries.

It will also apply to people without a negative Covid-19 test, RTÉ reports.

The UK brought in hotel quarantine on Monday, in a bid to stop Covid variants entering the country.

Under the new legislation - which is likely to take two to three weeks to pass - first-time offenders could be fined £3,475 (€4,000) and face a month in prison for not adhering to the rules.

The legislation will initially apply to people arriving from 20 countries, including Austria and Brazil.

The UK rules require incoming passengers to pre-book and pay £1,750 to spend 10 days in government-sanctioned hotels. The cost covers the hotel stay, transport and testing.

Those required to stay in quarantine in the Republic of Ireland will have to quarantine for 14 days and undergo several tests for Covid-19. The cost is yet to be agreed on.

Private security firms are likely to be involved in the day-to-day running of the facilities, but gardaí (Irish police) will have a role if any laws are breached, according to RTÉ.