Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has said that anyone who has travelled to Ireland from South Africa is advised to identify themselves through a GP for Covid-19 testing as soon as possible and to self-isolate for 14 days.
This comes after the National Virus Reference Laboratory confirmed that cases of the more highly transmissible variant of Covid-19 recently identified in South Africa is also present in Ireland.
The European Centre for Disease Control has warned that the new variant would have a high impact if it becomes established, and place greater pressure on our health system.
This new variant, which has already become the dominant strain of Covid-19 in South Africa, is designated as 501.v2. It carries genetic mutations that