US citizens have landed on a British “red list” for travelers and will have to quarantine 14 days after entering the country due to the increase in cases of coronavirus in the United States.
Britain’s transport minister Grant Shapps confirmed on Friday that the nation will remove its quarantine requirement for incoming travelers arriving from 50 “low-risk” countries, according to the BBC.
The system separates countries into three categories: “green” countries, such as New Zealand, which have “very low” levels of coronavirus and will have restrictions for UK travelers; “Amber” countries, including most of Europe, that will have “reciprocal arrangements” in place that do not require quarantine whether they arrive to depart; and “red” countries, which must observe a 14-day quarantine upon arrival in the UK
The United States is on the red list.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
“The United States from a very early stage banned flights from the United Kingdom and Europe, so there is no reciprocal agreement,” Shapps told the BBC. “They have a very high number of infections, so they are not on the list today.”
Britain follows the example of the European Union, which earlier this week confirmed that the United States would not be on the “safe list” of countries that would allow nonessential travel to the continent.
The United States has recently seen a sharp increase in new cases, reaching a national and global peak when it confirmed more than 55,000 new cases in 24 hours on July 2. About half of those cases come from just four states: Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas, with Florida registering more than 10,000 new cases in the same period.
UNITED STATES HAS DEPARTED FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION “SAFE LIST” FOR THE RESUMPTION OF NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL
President Donald Trump instituted a series of travel bans initially during the pandemic, first against China on January 31 before suspending travel from various European nations on March 11.
British ministers have been under pressure to facilitate the closure measures due to their significant impact on the travel industry. While the decision was announced last week, a full list was not released in hopes that the four home nations will reach an agreement on the matter.
The list will remain “under constant review”, but Scotland and Wales have already voiced criticism of the decision.
Scotland managed to record several days without any COVID-19 related deaths, and Wales reduced the deaths to single digits. Scottish Prime Minister Nikola Sturgeon called the decision “shady”.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“We cannot afford to be swept up in the wake of another government’s shambolic decision-making process, to be frank about it,” Sturgeon said.
