Unmoved by the discovery that fewer than one in 200 travellers from “Amber List” countries are testing positive for Covid when back in Britain, the Health Secretary says that it will be “difficult” to free up international travel over the coming months. The Government is concerned that relaxing travel restrictions could undo the success of the vaccine roll-out.
While the MailOnline reports that fully vaccinated Brits could be exempted from quarantine rules linked to Amber List countries from August (despite Matt Hancock saying that the move is not currently “clinically advised”), it seems unlikely that the number of countries on the “Green List”, which frees all travellers from the requirement to self-isolate, will increase much in the near future.
The Independent has more.
At present, the only viable holiday destinations from which quarantine is not required are Gibraltar and Iceland. Many other locations have far lower rates of coronavirus than the U.K., and the travel industry is calling for a rapid expansion of the… “Green List”.
The next review is due on Thursday, with Malta, Italy, Morocco and Spain’s Balearic islands all candidates for moving from the Amber List to Green…
On Sky News, Matt Hancock said the vaccine programme had freed up “a huge number of the restrictions here at home”. But he warned: “It is more difficult freeing up international travel.
“We have one of the tightest border control systems in the world and we have that because we want to protect this amazing progress we’ve made at home with the vaccination programme…
“We’ll get there when it’s safe to do so.”
The travel industry is staging a day of action at Westminster on Wednesday, calling for fewer restrictions on going abroad and financial support for agents, operators and airlines.
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