To ask the Minister of Health whether he is considering implementing mandatory quarantine in hotels for arrivals to Northern Ireland from specific countries with a high incidence of COVID-19 and COVID-19 variants of concern.

Department officials worked with colleagues in The Executive Office, who led a Task and Finish Group to implement managed hotel isolation for NI arrivals from red list countries. This new policy was introduced within the NI International Travel Regulations from 16th April 2021, ahead of the resumption of direct international flights into NI. There are currently no direct international flights from red list countries, however NI arrivals travelling indirectly from a red list country to NI are subject to managed hotel isolation here. Passengers travelling to NI from a red list country via GB or ROI would be subject to managed hotel isolation at the point of first arrival, before transiting on to NI.