London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Coronavirus: Summer foreign travel should be ruled out, says Robin Swann

Coronavirus: Summer foreign travel should be ruled out, says Robin Swann

Foreign travel over the summer holiday months should be ruled out, Robin Swann has said.

The health minister said Westminster and the devolved governments were discussing the so-called "red list" for foreign countries.

He said travel to the Republic of Ireland would be dependent on its vaccine rollout.

Mr Swann also said fragilities in NI's health system underlined the need for caution as lockdown eases.

"Our health and care services have had the toughest of years. They still need our protection now," he said.

The "red list" is part of travel regulations aimed at stopping Covid variants entering the UK.

The health minister said the health system in Northern Ireland had been particularly strained in recent years compared with neighbouring jurisdictions.

Northern Ireland has begun taking its first steps out of lockdown, after restrictions were re-imposed nearly three months ago.

The current rules came into force on 26 December, in a bid to suppress the spread of Covid-19.

'No further deaths'


But ministers have agreed some relaxations of the rules can now be permitted.

On Wednesday, no further coronavirus-related deaths were recorded by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, meaning the total number of deaths remains at 2,107.

While there are no direct international flights arriving into Northern Ireland at the moment, Mr Swann said the executive was looking at establishing a hotel quarantine system for international arrivals.

"Should direct flights start, we will have that facility here as well," Mr Swann told a press briefing on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said a change in the advice for people who are clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) to Covid-19 was planned.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride says advice for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable people will ease on 12 April


Since 26 December, CEV people have been advised to adhere to additional steps to keep themselves safe from exposure to the Covid-19, including advice not to attend their workplace if they can work from home.

That will now ease from 12 April.

"This is an important step to helping CEV people re-engage with everyday life with confidence," he said.

Dr Patricia Donnelly, head of NI's vaccination programme, said the target of reaching all adult age groups by the summer is "firmly within our sights".

A total of 694,863 individuals have received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while 96,254 have received two.

Dr Donnelly said that meant almost half of the adult population in Northern Ireland had been vaccinated.

She said the vaccination centre in the SSE Arena in Belfast would open on 29 March and more than 300 community pharmacies would also join the vaccination programme next week.

Currently, anyone over the age of 50 and those with some underlying health conditions are eligible for a coronavirus vaccine.

The SSE Arena will operate alongside the seven regional vaccination centres run by health trusts across Northern Ireland as well as GP practices.

Dr Donnelly also warned those who are trying to "inappropriately access the service" that "they might travel as far as they like, they won't get vaccinated".

"It's going to be a wasted journey for anyone who does it," she said.

It has emerged that hundreds of people from the Republic of Ireland have been turned away from vaccinations centres in Northern Ireland in recent days.

An online "glitch" has led to vaccination appointments being booked by people who are not yet eligible

Meanwhile the Department of Health has said it is investigating an apparent glitch in its online vaccination booking system.

It says a number of appointments were booked by people who were not yet eligible.

The BBC understands an online link, enabling people to bypass eligibility criteria questions, was circulating on some social media platforms for some time on Tuesday.

In a tweet issued on Wednesday, the department said: "Yesterday some members of the public in NI who are not yet eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine were able to make an appointment.

"This was as a result of an issue with the system's eligibility checker and we are looking into the circumstances that allowed this - but we want to clarify that such appointments are being cancelled.

"Ineligible appointments will in any event be turned away at the vaccination centre through checks that apply there.

"Our thanks to the vast majority of people who are using our services properly."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×