[ad_1]
Turkey and Poland are being removed from the UK travel broker list as people arriving from abroad who violate Covid-19 quarantine restrictions in England face more severe fines of up to £ 10,000.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Thursday that those arriving in England from the two countries, as well as the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, after 4 a.m. Saturday would have to isolate themselves.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have transferred powers over quarantine restrictions, will remove the locations of their travel corridors at the same time.
Travelers arriving in England from countries subject to two-week quarantine restrictions can already be fined £ 1,000 for violating isolation rules, but under the measures that take effect on Friday, those who repeatedly violate quarantine restrictions after international travel they could be fined up to £ 10,000.
TRAVEL CORRIDOR UPDATE: Latest data indicates that we should remove Turkey, Poland and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba from the #Corredordeviajes list this week.
This means that if you arrive from these destinations after 4 a.m. on Saturday, October 3, you will need to isolate yourself.
– Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 1, 2020
REMINDER: If you are traveling, you must complete a passenger locator form before returning to the UK. Do your part to help keep everyone safe.
– Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 1, 2020
The new higher penalty for those who violate quarantine restrictions after traveling abroad reflects stricter regulations that went into effect Monday for others who violate isolation rules after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
The departure from Turkey is another blow for tourists. It was one of the few popular holiday destinations to remain on a shrinking list of places from which people can get to England without having to self-quarantine. Spain and France are among the countries that have already been removed from England’s travel broker list.
The Department of Transport (DfT) said on Thursday that data from the Joint Biosafety Center (JBC) and Public Health England indicated a change in the “level and pace” of confirmed Covid cases in Poland and the three Caribbean islands, which prompted the ministers to act. . The data indicated a 66% increase in weekly Covid cases per 100,000 people in Poland, from 14.7 on September 23 to 24.4 on September 30, the DfT said.
The government said Turkey’s Ministry of Health had changed the way it had been defining the number of new Covid cases, noting that it was different from both the World Health Organization and the European Center for Prevention and Control. of Diseases. The DfT said that “the JBC risk assessment for Turkey has been updated to reflect the likely impact of this on the incidence data and test positivity rates.”
Turkey’s government has been accused of hiding the true magnitude of Covid-19 cases in the country after a minister admitted that the case numbers released daily only reflect patients with symptoms and not asymptomatic positive cases. The Turkish Medical Association, which for months has said the government has not reported cases, called for transparency.
The Scottish government also announced that arrivals from the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira.
The country’s Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Although we are lifting quarantine restrictions for those traveling from the Azores or Madeira, according to the public health data we have received, people should think long and hard before choosing to travel. abroad, particularly during the upcoming October holidays.
“Today, all trips abroad carry risk. Quarantine requirements could be imposed on holidaymakers abroad, just as we may decide to impose the same in Scotland. “
[ad_2]
