The Government is sticking with arrangements not to assign gardaí to police Covid-19 quarantine hotels, despite breaches resulting in three people leaving a hotel over the weekend. The three absconded on Saturday, the day after hotel quarantine began. Despite the breaches over the weekend, a spokesperson for the Taoiseach said the Government expected public compliance with the hotel mandatory quarantine system “to be high”. “It is important to remember that arrivals who are placed in mandatory quarantine are not prisoners, nor have they committed a crime,” said the spokesperson. Overseas the failure to use police to manage security at quarantine hotels and other facilities has led to breaches and spread of the virus into the community.

Source: The Irish Times March 30, 2021 02:49 UTC