Number of Covid-19 cases caused by foreign travel is likely far higher than Government claims

Way in which new infections are counted could lead to a considerable under-reporting of imported cases

Leo Varadkar, the Tánaiste, told the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting last week that international travel accounts for ‘one per cent or less’ of Covid-19 cases in the country. Picture: Rollingnews.ie

The number of Covid-19 infections caused by foreign travel is likely to be far higher than the Government is claiming, due to Covid-case counting rules.

Last week, Leo Varadkar, the Tánaiste, told the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting that international travel accounts for “one per cent or less” of Covid-19 cases in the country. Other government ministers have made similar statements.

Their position is backed up by figures from the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre ...