NZ and Australia experience gives early warning of quarantine pitfalls

Some of the Antipodean quarantine hotels featured problems with poor organisation and unruly guests in the initial stages, which the government here will hope to avoid when it implements a similar strategy very soon

Airline passengers arriving from Melbourne are met by health officials and police officers at Ballina Airport in Australia after an outbreak of Covid-19 linked to a quarantine hotel Picture: Getty

Stephen Donnelly did not undersell his plan for mandatory quarantine for those arriving into the country when he addressed the Oireachtas earlier this month. Ireland, the Minister for Health said, would have the "most robust hotel quarantine system anywhere in the EU".

The government is expected to announce details of the hotels that have been selected for the new system soon. It will also provide information on the private security staff who will be hired ...