American tourists are ignoring quarantine rule on visits to Ireland: report

Irish businesses are raising concerns about U.S. tourists who are ignoring directions to self-isolate after arriving in the country.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that many Irish bars and restaurants, after opening on June 29 following months of shutdowns, have been grappling with tourists who are flaunting Ireland’s order to isolate for 14 days.

A number of Irish businesses have posted on social media about having to deny customers who had just landed in the country but were ignoring directions to self-quarantine. The stories have sparked a national conversation about whether the Irish government should monitor compliance with the isolation order.

Micheál Martin, Ireland’s taoiseach, or prime minister, told Parliament on Tuesday that while there is concern about American tourists, “the numbers are quite low coming in from the U.S.”

“There are concerns in terms of increases in the number of COVID cases over the last fortnight,” he said. “Congregated indoor settings is presenting a problem … and we have to be very strong in terms of travel as well and in terms of our messaging around travel.”

Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, addressed the tourism issue Monday at a press conference.

“First of all, people should not be coming into Ireland if they can’t restrict their movement for 14 days when they come here,” he said.

“There certainly was some evidence over the weekend that there were tourists in Ireland who said that they weren’t self-quarantining or restricting movement, and I think that has created a concern across the tourism industry in Ireland who want, of course, to be abiding by the rules and the advice we are giving them,” he added.

Coveney said he plans to set up a call center to ensure follow-ups with travelers who are supposed to self-quarantine.

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are surging at a time when many other countries in the world are seeing declines. The 10 days with the highest number of new coronavirus infections in the United States have come in the past 11 days.