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Vaccinated people arriving into the country from overseas will not have to get a clear Covid test from tomorrow, under plans that have gone to Cabinet today.
Since early December, when the threat of the Omicron variant emerged, all arriving passengers have needed either a negative PCR test or a negative antigen test, regardless of vaccination status.
However, this requirement is now being removed and from tomorrow, the situation that applied before December 6th returns. This means that vaccinated people with a valid Digital Covid Certificate or another valid proof of recent infection or vaccination will not need a test. Unvaccinated people will need a “not detected” PCR test result taken within 72 hours of their arrival into Ireland.
The measure was applied to slow the arrival of Omicron into the country to the greatest extent possible – with the near total dominance of the variant, it’s understood it was no longer seen as valid.
Restrictions
Elsewhere, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said he thinks Ireland can get through the current wave of infection without resorting to further restrictions. While the changeable situation with Covid was such that one could “never say never”, Mr Ryan said the changed behaviour of the population would control the virus.
“I think the measures we introduced just before Christmas are the right ones, the Irish people have been really sensible, people have restricted their movements and their level of socialisation.
“I think it’s the sense and the good intelligence of the Irish people who will get us through this, I don’t think we will need further restrictions,” he said, adding that despite skyrocketing numbers of infections, the level of people requiring critical care has been “relatively steady”.
Speaking on his way into this morning’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Ryan told reporters: “With the numbers being so large there’ll still be a lot of hospital beds taken up, but I don’t expect further restrictions this week and hopefully, if the modelling is correct, we should be close to the peak, numbers start to come down, we will be able to cope,” he said.
Mr Ryan said he believed the health service will be able to “manage” with the current wave of infection.
“It’ll require a lot of flexibility, because a lot of people are out of work… but they have systems in place and have had right through this process that allows them to be flexible and manage”.
Asked about the current requirements for restricted movement on close contacts of confirmed cases, Mr Ryan said it made sense to revisit them, which the Government has asked Nphet to do. He also acknowledged that the current rules are very complicated.
“I think it makes sense for us to make it clearer and I think in some of the cases those 10-day restricted movements could be brought down lower and I think it’ll help people manage.”
Anti-viral drugs
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is to seek Cabinet approval today for the purchase of €90 million worth of Covid anti-viral drugs.
The drugs, manufactured by Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, have shown good effectiveness at reducing the risk of severe illness and hospitalisation among those infected with Covid.

Merck antiviral Covid treatment pill. Photograph: Merck & Co via AP


Mr Donnelly is seeking approval for permission for the HSE to proceed with the purchase. It is expected the drugs will become available in Ireland in the coming weeks, initially at lower volumes.
Trials have shown encouraging results, including one with Pfizer’s drug showing good effectiveness against the Omicron variant.
Pfizer said in December that the final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90 per cent efficacy in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the Omicron variant.
It comes as a further 21,302 of Covid-19 cases were recorded in the State on Tuesday, alongside an increase of 80 patients in hospital to 884.
However, there is cautious optimism among senior sources that the wave of Omicron will not translate to pressure in ICUs or mortality like last winter.
Early data is understood to suggest that the disease may not be spreading as quickly among older and more vulnerable cohorts, who are also heavily boosted. There are 90 people with Covid in ICU – 73 were in critical care on the same day last year.