After a sudden decision by the British authorities, a shock for tourists

Some 27,000 British tourists were forced to leave Portugal prematurely over the weekend and on Monday, otherwise their home would have been subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine. The newspaper Público writes about it on Tuesday, citing the president of the Portuguese Algarve Tourism Association. Many complained that they had to cut back on holidays and go back to buying expensive tickets, the BBC reported.

There were 39 flights to the UK from the Algarve port of Faro on Monday, almost double the number on a normal day.

Tourists had to return to Britain at 4am on Tuesday, otherwise they would have to isolate themselves at home for 10 days. These changes were introduced after the British government decided to remove Portugal from the COVID-19 travel green zone.

Tourists in a hurry to get back to Britain were having a hard time getting plane tickets: most of the airplane seats had already been looted and those that remained were sold at an inflated price.

Ryanair, for example, has asked for £ 285 for Monday’s flight from Faro to Bournemouth, even though the flight was only £ 17 on Wednesday.

EasyJet flights from Faro to Gatwick on Monday cost £ 227, though the next day, Tuesday, they are only £ 53.

Tourists in the Algarve have also reported difficulties conducting pre-flight COVID-19 testing of all people arriving in the UK, as required by the UK government.

Many tourists and travel agencies made no secret of their anger when it was announced last Thursday that Portugal would be placed in the yellow zone – it became clear just 17 days after Britain lifted its ban on foreign holidays.

Portuguese officials also debated why Britain decided to remove the popular holiday destination from the list of green zone states and switch it to yellow. They said they “couldn’t understand that logic.”

Britain’s Department of Transport, meanwhile, says the situation in the country “requires urgent action to protect the results that vaccination has helped to achieve.”

It notes that the number of positive coronavirus test results in Portugal nearly doubled when the travel zones were established four weeks ago.

Separate data from the British Test and Trace system shows that of the 200 people who came from Portugal and underwent tests from May 6 to 19, three were infected with COVID-19.

Shock for tourists

Tired of the vagueness and mixed messages, British tourists enjoying the sun in Portugal reacted angrily and unreliably to their home country’s decision to reintroduce the quarantine regime for travelers returning from this popular holiday destination in Europe, Reuters reports.

“It’s just amazing to add a country to the list of green countries and then delete it again in just three weeks,” the BBC quoted a tourist arriving at London’s Gatwick airport.

To get rid of the pandemic, Newcastle’s John Joyce and his family booked a holiday in sunny Portugal as soon as the UK decided three weeks ago to add the country to the list of foreign countries where it can travel without restrictions and not go back to quarantine. . .

“We all needed a break, a respite, a respite … some change after such a long period of forced stay at home,” said the 44-year-old Briton.

Portugal was the only country on the list that had a beach, and the British were very happy to be able to come here without the obligation to return home to be quarantined. Thousands of Britons, including Joyce and her family, rushed to load their bags.

Only on Thursday, the UK changed its decision on the growing number of new COVID-19 cases and the coronavirus mutation detected in India.

“It just came to our attention then. People were going with the kids, people were buying vacations, and then that great stress, I also experienced stress,” says Joyce, who is obviously upset.

Charlotte Cheddle, a 22-year-old Briton, also believes she is calling on the British government to “completely ban international travel or communicate properly with its people.”

“It just came to our attention then. We made an effort, we took the test in private.

The British government removed the popular holiday destination from the list of “green” countries that need not be quarantined after returning just three weeks later. The new order went into effect at 4pm UK time on Monday morning.

The government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has criticized the move, which has been criticized by the tourism industry in both countries and by tourists, for being concerned about the further spread of the Delta strain and the slightly increasing number of infections in Portugal.

The Delta variety is already prevalent in the UK. In Portugal, meanwhile, only a small number of cases have been reported.

In January, Portugal had the highest COVID-19 figures in the world in terms of population. The country then introduced a strict quarantine, and the number declined rapidly. However, recently there has been a slight increase in cases. The seven-day morbidity rate is currently 40 cases per 100,000 population.

Expert: The third wave is coming

A former UK government scientific adviser says current figures for new COVID-19 infection cases warn of an impending third wave of the virus.

“There are 5,300 new cases a day in the UK, 2,000 more than last week. We discussed whether or not there would be a difficult third wave of the virus;” I think we can’t wait any longer, it is proof that the third wave is coming. ” Sir David King told Sky News.

According to King, 400 cases of infection are diagnosed a day in those who are vaccinated with two vaccines.

“We know that two vaccines for people are pretty reliable protection against the virus. But let’s not forget that out of every 25 newly infected, one has both vaccines; this means that there are 400 people a day who have already been vaccinated twice, “he said.

Mr. King asked the ministers to postpone the meeting from June 21. the planned relaxation of quarantine restrictions in England.

“According to the government, the number of people staying in hospitals is relatively stable; Hospitals admit 932 patients a day, 65 more than last week. So, in fact, the number is not stable, it is gradually increasing, he emphasized. – All this means that many people need intensive care at this time. I’m very reluctant to suggest that we don’t relax the quarantine on June 21, but I still think it would be more prudent for the government to announce it now. [karantino ribojimų švelninimo] postponement so we can all plan after June 21 “.

“I would put it off for a few weeks and see what the numbers would be like. So I will not say exactly in what period. According to the Prime Minister, we should not be guided by dates, but by data, “they asked him when he would postpone the easing of restrictions.

Doctors fear that the premature lifting of quarantine restrictions will end badly, and many are concerned that the health care system will withstand the potential consequences.

Some doctors say that the health care system continues to operate at a higher capacity than usual.

“Everyone in the UK Health System (NHS) is concerned right now,” said Dr Megan Smith, an advisor to EveryDoctor, a medical rights campaign.

She said the NHS was still not recovering from the first waves of the pandemic and that even the slightest increase in COVID-19 patients would be insurmountable for her. Now patients are arriving, many of them in very serious condition.

“We have heard that some hospitals are no longer including patients. I think that consideration should be given to refraining from relaxing restrictions and instead introducing more restrictions. I understand that such an offer is not rewarding,” he said.

Ravi Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge University, warned people not to forget that the virus is still mutating “and becoming more resistant to our defenses.”

“The more infections that are transmitted, the more likely it is that new mutations will spread.” We have not prevented the spread of new infections, as we should if we want to live without restrictions in the long term. I don’t think it is useful to go back completely to the rhythm of a previous life. “I and other scientists, of course, we want this to be the last quarantine in our lives, we do not want the situation to get worse, to the detriment of the economy, people’s businesses and the long-term well-being of all.” “he told BBC broadcasts.

According to Bloomberg, officials are currently scrutinizing data on the new strain, which they estimate has spread to much of the country and accounts for three-quarters of all new infections. Furthermore, this variety appears to spread more easily than the previously dominant variant, which came into effect late last year and forced the government to introduce another quarantine. The number of new strains is increasing every week and more and more people need hospital treatment.

Although the UK is running its vaccination program very fast, there is a growing sense of déjà vu. The decision to postpone plans to repeal the latest quarantine measures in place would be a blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and confidence in him as a leader. Such a solution could also undermine optimism about the economic recovery, which has intensified with vaccination of nearly 60%. populations.

Government experts are taking the situation so seriously that the Prime Minister’s lauded plan to lift COVID-19’s physical contact restriction rules was hung on June 21. In the next two weeks, Johnson will be forced to decide again whether to extend the restrictions for a longer period of time, enraging his party members calling for a quicker return to pre-viral life, or lifting the restrictions. restrictions and risking a catastrophic wave, scientists say.