Letter from Ambassador O'Brien on global health situation
News
19 March 2020Important Travel Advice from Embassy of Ireland, Berlin
Thursday, 19 March, 2020
Dear All,
I am writing to you regarding the current Coronavirus situation, which has made profound changes to all our lives over the last few days, and by all accounts, will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
I want to take this opportunity to again encourage anyone in Germany who wishes to return to Ireland to make arrangements to do so as soon as possible. The window for returning to Ireland is closing. Ryanair, for example, have urged their customers to travel by Tuesday 24 March 2020; after this, they expect to cut their service globally by at least 80%.
Those who do return to Ireland are asked to restrict their movements for 14 days. Advice on this is available from the HSE website.
We have been using our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter (@irlembberlin), and our website, to get urgent travel advice out to Irish citizens. I urge you to keep a close eye on our social media channels, which we are regularly updating. Where possible, please share and retweet our messages so that we can get our message out to as many people as possible.
The Embassy in Berlin, the Consulate General in Frankfurt, and our Honorary Consulates Generals in Hamburg, Bergisch-Gladbach, Munich and Stuttgart have been working hard to adapt our working methods to ensure that we are able to provide as full a service as possible to all of our customers, especially to Irish citizens here in Germany.
There are also a range of useful sources available in English for anyone looking for general advice on the Coronavirus. These include:
German Federal Health Ministry
Robert Koch Institute
Health Service Executive – Ireland
The period ahead will be very challenging for us all. We at the Embassy, Consulate General and Honorary Consulates Generals will do what we can to assist you. In the meantime, I hope that you and your loved ones remain safe and healthy.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Nicholas O’Brien
Ambassador of Ireland