The Council of Ministers of Ireland removed Cyprus, Malta, Gibraltar, Monaco and San Marino from the “green list”. This means that all arrivals from these countries will be placed under a 14-day quarantine.

Ireland currently has one of the lowest rates of disease in the European Union (about 5 cases per 100,000). Two weeks ago, the authorities decided to lift the restrictions for tourists coming from countries with similar or lower levels of infection, including Cyprus.

But on Wednesday, the Irish downgraded the rating of the above countries, as they have not met the criteria set by the state for free entry.

The downgrading of the island coincided with the introduction of additional measures taken by Dublin to limit secondary travel as the number of people infected with the virus has increased in recent days, both in Ireland and in other European countries.