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British Health Minister Matt Hancock today admitted the possibility that Portugal could once again be included in the list of countries whose passengers are forced to serve a two-week quarantine upon arrival in the UK.
“We are prepared to make decisions to put individual countries back on the quarantine list if necessary, and we keep it under constant review. People should only travel if they are prepared for quarantine if the virus increases when they are in that country, “he told Sky News.
The increase in the number of contagion cases in Portugal in the last week will have exceeded 20 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the British press, one of the criteria used by London to impose restrictions on international travel.
The Portuguese Minister of Health, Marta Temido, acknowledged this Wednesday that the cases of covid-19 are increasing in Portugal and that there is an increased risk of transmission of the disease.
“The number of our epidemic situation is increasing. They have been on the rise for a week and now number about 340 new cases a day. This is a reality, “he said at the press conference to update the situation of the covid-19 pandemic in Portugal.
Portugal was only included in the list of safe countries and therefore with “travel corridors” with the United Kingdom two weeks ago, on August 20, despite pressure from the Portuguese Government and the tourism sector.
Hancock said the decision would be made on Friday, but the review of the measures was announced Thursday in recent weeks by Transportation Minister Grant Shapps.
On August 27, the British Government added Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Jamaica to the list of countries subject to a 14-day quarantine and Cuba was placed on the list of exempt countries.
“The decision to add or remove a country is made carefully after an investigation by the Joint Center for Biosafety. A main indicator is 20 cases per 100,000 in seven days, but a wide range of factors is taken into account, including the level, rate and speed of change in confirmed cases ”, justified Shapps at the time.
The list of “travel corridors” currently has fewer than 70 countries and territories, with Croatia, Austria and the island of Trinidad and Tobago, France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Aruba excluded since July. Belgium, Andorra, Bahamas, Spain and Luxembourg.
Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Archipelago of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Brunei and Malaysia were added in the previous weeks.
According to the British press, in addition to Portugal, Greece also runs the risk of being added to the list of countries in need of quarantine in the rest of the United Kingdom, following the decision made by Scotland this week and effective as of today.
In addition to an increase in the number of infections in the country, several tourists from Wales who traveled from the island of Zakynthos tested positive, so the authorities ask them to remain in isolation.
The coronavirus pandemic that causes covid-19 has already killed at least 857,824 people and infected more than 25.8 million people in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
In Portugal 1,827 people died of the 58,633 confirmed as infected, according to the latest bulletin from the General Health Directorate.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (185,669) and also with the most confirmed cases of infection (more than 6.1 million).
It is followed by Brazil (123,780 deaths, almost four million cases), India (67,376, more than 3.8 million infected), Mexico (65,241, more than 606 thousand infected) and the United Kingdom (41,514 deaths, more than 338 thousand cases )).
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