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People arriving in Wales from Portugal, French Polynesia and six Greek islands must now isolate themselves for 14 days.
The new Wales coronavirus quarantine rules went into effect at 04:00 BST on Friday.
Arrivals in Scotland from Portugal and French Polynesia must be isolated from 04:00 on Saturday.
With Portugal, Greece and French Polynesia still on England and Northern Ireland’s travel corridor lists, the difference between the UK nations has been criticized as confusing.
In Portugal, the seven-day infection rate has increased from 15.3 to 23 per 100,000 people. This is above the threshold of 20, which is when the UK government generally considers activating quarantine conditions.
The Department for Transport said decisions to add or remove countries from England’s quarantine list “take into account a variety of factors,” including the number of people being evaluated.
“Portugal has dramatically increased its testing capacity, in addition to taking measures to control the spread of the virus,” a spokesman said, adding that the situation was being closely monitored.
The latest quarantine rules introduced in Wales also apply to travelers from Gibraltar. The six Greek islands to which the rules apply are Crete, Mykonos, Zakynthos (or Zante), Lesbos, Paros, and Antiparos.
Scotland reintroduced self-isolation measures for arrivals from Greece earlier in the week and has since added Portugal and French Polynesia to its list of countries requiring quarantine.
“This week’s data shows an increase in positivity for tests and cases per 100,000 in Portugal,” said Scottish Justice Minister Humza Yousaf.
Greece’s overall rate is below the threshold of “20 cases per 100,000”, at 13.8 in the seven days to September 2, down from 14.9 a week earlier.
Announcing that there were no additions or deletions to England’s quarantine exemptions list, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Thursday: “We continue to keep the list of travel corridors under constant review and we will not hesitate to remove countries if necessary. “
“However, tourists are reminded that countries in 14-day quarantine can and do change in a very short time.”
The Northern Ireland health department also confirmed that it would make no further changes for now.
The variety of rules in the four UK nations has drawn criticism from industry experts and tourists.
“The quarantine policy is in tatters,” said Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency.
“Consumers are totally confused by the different approaches and it is impossible to understand the government’s own criteria for when to add or remove a country.”
He called for a change in strategy as the weekly ads have caused “financial anxiety and pain” for consumers and travel companies.
New expensive flights
In a typical year, more than two million Britons visit Portugal. Most head to the Algarve in the south, drawn by the sunny Atlantic beaches, picturesque fishing villages and golf courses.
Some tourists have told the BBC that they paid up to £ 1,000 for flights to return home from Portugal in anticipation of the rule change.
Kelly from Birmingham and her family changed their flights home from the Algarve from Saturday to Friday at a cost of £ 900 to avoid a possible quarantine because she did not want her children to miss two weeks of school.
The 45-year-old said the situation was “absolutely disgusting.”
“It’s cost us a lot more money and it’s money we don’t need to spend now. We lost one more night at our villa, we won’t get it back, we have a rental car, so ‘I’m getting that back a day earlier.’
A complicated situation has become … more complicated
An aviation chief described traveling abroad at this time as a “quarantine roulette” because the list of affected destinations keeps changing.
But the governments of Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff are now clearly at odds over which countries pose a clear risk.
Portugal’s infection rate is above the UK government’s benchmark of 20 cases of the virus per 100,000 people.
But the UK government has surprised us all and has not added Portugal to England’s list. It is not clear why.
Greece is even more complicated as the Welsh government is opting for a policy where only people arriving from certain Greek islands have to isolate themselves, while Scotland has introduced a quarantine for arrivals from all over Greece.
For months, the travel industry has been pushing the UK government to take an approach that considers particular regions of a country, but London ministers are not interested in the idea.
Quarantine was already difficult or impossible to control.
But the discrepancies between the different nations of the UK make it even more difficult as, in theory, someone could fly to Newcastle from Greece and drive to Scotland. That person must isolate himself for 14 days, but no one will control him.
Damian Martin had changed his vacation destination from Spain to Lagos, Portugal, in an attempt to avoid having to quarantine him. But since he won’t be able to travel to Swansea early, he will have to isolate himself when he returns.
“I will be able to isolate myself I think, but I work for a supermarket so I will have to consult with them,” he said.
He added, “I’m supposed to be here eight nights. I might as well try to enjoy it.”
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Damian Martin
“The job had been full so I decided to go,” Damian Martin said.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel said: “The days of speculation surrounding this announcement meant that many people were quick to pay exorbitant prices for flights back to England to avoid having to quarantine them on their return, only to find it was unnecessary.
“The government knows this and yet it still does not provide clarity on how these decisions are made.”
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