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England faces pressure to reconsider quarantine rules for Greece after Scotland and Wales introduced new measures on concerns about rising coronavirus cases.
The Scottish government announced Tuesday evening that travelers from Greece would have to isolate themselves for 14 days starting Thursday, while Wales also started asking for arrivals from the island of Zante. to start the quarantine period.
The Department of Transport said that no changes had been made to its rules for England.
But Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething said he would push Boris Johnson’s government for an urgent meeting to consider the potential risk in Greece.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab did not reveal anything when asked if England would join Wales and Scotland in removing Wales from the list of safe countries.
He said: “We respect delegated administrations in what they do, of course here in Whitehall we look very carefully at all the evidence, relying on scientific advice and we review travel advice and quarantine measures very carefully and regularly.”
The move came as tourists rushed back from Portugal amid growing restrictions concerns it could be imposed again on arrivals from there.
The restrictions for Greece were lifted in England in July when international exemptions were allowed for the first time.
Had 14.0 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants in Greece in the seven days through Aug. 31, compared to 14.9 a week earlier.
A seven-day rate of 20 is the threshold above which the UK government considers triggering quarantine conditions.
But Greece’s tourism minister, Harry Theoharis, said the country has “a much lower number of infections compared to most other countries in Europe.”
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “We are indeed heading in the right direction. We are going down in terms of average numbers. “
He added: “We are taking specific specific measures where we see specific concentrations of cases. Measures that have been successful and have been working in the last few days.
“We are doing everything in our power to ensure that everyone coming from the UK is kept safe in Greece.”
But Scotland’s Attorney General Humza Yousaf, announcing the restriction, said that “importing new cases from Greece is a significant risk to public health.”
He said “regular discussions are continuing” with the other three UK governments about the restrictions.
In Wales, Gething said six groups that add more than 30 cases of Covid-19 in the last week he had come from four flights, two of which landed in England.
“There are concerns from our public health teams that current screening and counseling measures for returning travelers are insufficient,” he said.
He said all passengers on a flight from Zakynthos to Cardiff on Tuesday night would be instructed to self-quarantine and undergo two Covid-19 tests, one within 48 hours and another eight days after their arrival. Return.
“In addition, I have pushed for an early meeting with the UK government and delegate nations tomorrow (Wednesday) to consider the latest risk assessment conducted by the Joint Center for Biosafety,” he said.
He added: “There is an obvious need for us to consider the potential for regulatory changes in Wales that would require travelers arriving in the UK from Greece and possibly elsewhere to isolate themselves upon return.”
Tour operator Tui He later said that he would no longer offer holidays to the Laganas spa in Zante from Thursday.
The Joint Center for Biosafety had yet to change Greece’s risk rating, but the nation’s data, like everyone else, was kept under constant review.
With thousands of Brits having traveled to portugal Since the country was exempted from quarantine measures on August 22, the surge in cases has prompted airlines to increase capacity as tourists rushed back in case restrictions are re-imposed.
There were 22.3 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to August 31, up from 14.5 the week before, according to figures calculated by the Palestinian Authority news agency based on data. compiled by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
the head of British Airways parent company has warned that reimposing the quarantine requirement for people returning to or visiting the UK from Portugal would cause further “chaos and hardship” for travelers.
Willie Walsh, CEO of International Airlines Group, said the “ever-changing list” means that “the UK has officially posted the ‘Closed’ sign.”
“The government needs to introduce a testing regime to restore confidence,” he wrote in The Times.
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