The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) has placed Ireland in Covid-19 travel Category C on December 6 and has banned travel from Ireland to Pakistan. One finds this measure immensely unfair and upsetting. Ireland has one of the highest vaccination rates; 89.1 percent of the people over the age of 12 in Ireland have been vaccinated. More cases of the virus have been reported in Ireland simply because it has a higher rate of testing.
A grace travel period has been given till December 15, but it has simply resulted in people travelling to Pakistan in droves. Surprisingly enough, the UK, which does not fare as well as Ireland in the Covid-19 situation, is in the more lenient Category B. All potential travellers from Ireland to Pakistan will have been fully vaccinated and have their PCR tests done. Instead of enforcing bans, it is more reasonable to ask travellers to have their PCR test done within 24 to 48 hours before travelling and taking an antigen test at their arrival. They can be asked to quarantine for seven days. The NCOC should reconsider its decision and remove Ireland from Category C.
Dr Aaisha Khan
Dublin, Ireland
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