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The UK government is expected to announce the reimposition of a 14-day quarantine for arrivals from Portugal on Thursday, as decentralized nations differ from travelers from Greece.
For the past three days, the number of coronavirus cases in Portugal has been above 20 per 100,000 people, the level at which the UK government considers triggering quarantine conditions. The current average seven-day case rate is 22.7, compared with 14.2 the previous week.
Therefore, ministers are likely to remove Portugal from the safe list in a meeting on Thursday after reviewing the latest risk assessment conducted by the Joint Center for Biosafety. If they do, the new rules for travelers arriving from Portugal will take effect starting at 4 a.m. Saturday, just two weeks after they are lifted.
A government source said: “Given the evolving public health landscape in Europe, an update on teatime is expected on Thursday.”
Meanwhile, new quarantine rules imposed by the Scottish government for travelers from Greece went into effect at 4am on Thursday. The Welsh government has taken a more specific approach towards Greece by asking that only people arriving from the island of Zante be quarantined. And the UK’s largest tour operator, Tui, has suspended its holiday in the Zante town of Laganas.
Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething urged the UK government to convene an urgent meeting to consider the potential risk from Greece.
Westminster is believed unlikely to impose quarantine rules on travel to Greece, as the level of infection is below what is considered dangerous. There were 14.3 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Greece in the seven days to September 1, a level similar to that in the UK.
Greece’s Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said: “We are doing everything in our power to ensure that all people coming from the UK are kept safe in Greece.”
Last week, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps rejected the idea of imposing a UK quarantine on people returning from specific regions within countries. A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said: “We are taking a national approach to protecting public health. But it is up to the delegated administrations to make their own public health decisions ”.
Paul Charles, CEO of the travel consultancy PC Agency, predicted that Portugal would be removed from the safe travel list, but that Greece would remain on it despite action by the Scottish government.
Paul charles
(@PPaulCharles)Wednesday update: #Portugal stands well above the @transportgovuk Criteria “20”. Difficult to #UKGov Ignore your own rules. The good news is that #Italy #Greece are stable in the green zone, making the decision @scotgov seems extreme and at odds with @PHE_es #coronavirus @LaPCAgency pic.twitter.com/Z5ZkCdvYZT
Tourists hoping to avoid quarantine face limited options and expensive fares, despite airlines operating additional flights. Google search data showed a significant increase in searches for the term “flights to Portugal” by users in the UK around 6pm on Thursday 20 August, the day the news about the flight was announced. change of quarantine.
EasyJet and British Airways do not have flights available from Faro, which serves the Algarve, to Britain on Friday.
Rory Boland, travel editor for consumer group Which ?, condemned the UK’s approach to quarantine measures.
He said: “Once again, the messy announcements and rumors about the quarantine have caused chaos and confusion for tourists, with many facing an unenviable choice between paying exorbitant prices for last-minute flights home or disruption. caused by two weeks of isolation upon his return. “
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