"We appreciate how inconvenient this is..."

People travelling home from the UK to Ireland should eat their Christmas dinner in their bedroom, a member of NPHET has said. Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer with the HSE, said today that the National Public Health Emergency Team's advice for those travelling home from England, Scotland, and Wales who need to self isolate is to eat Christmas dinner in their bedroom. New public heath advice means that people who have travelled from the UK since December 11 are now being asked to self-isolate for 14 days, rather than just restricting their movements. Dr Henry told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that this advice comes following this week's sharp rise in Covid cases and the new staggered Level 5 restrictions set to commence on Christmas Eve. https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1341673468862062593?s=20 "We appreciate how inconvenient this is, how painful this must be for people who have waited so long to come home, but we know this is a highly transmissible form of the virus," he said. "Self-isolation means staying in your room in so far as possible, except for essential purposes. You should stay in your room to ensure you are not the means of transmission of this more transmissible form of the virus within the house." Dr Henry added that this advice did "sadly" mean that people who have travelled from the UK since December 11 should eat their dinner in their bedroom. “It is difficult, it is painful," he said. "We have learned to our cost that delay in taking action to prevent spread, transmission of the virus and we will pay for it if we do so." This comes after Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that the country will be entering staggered Level 5 restrictions from December 24. Hairdressers, restaurants, and pubs serving food will close at 3pm on Christmas Eve and inter-county travel will be banned from Stephen's Day. Approximately 30,000 people have travelled to Ireland from the UK  since December 8.