MILLIONS FACING HOLIDAY CHAOS
Summer breaks blow for Britons over strict new quarantine rules
HOLIDAY plans for millions of Britons have been thrown into chaos after an alarming Covid19 spike in Europe.
Spain was yesterday struck off the UK’s approved list of countries where visitors do not have to face a 14-day quarantine on return after cases rocketed.
And there are fears that other countries which are popular
with British tourists, including France and Belgium, could also be stripped of their “air bridge” status after seeing increases in cases.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said there was “no guarantee” any country would remain on the safe list, adding: “As we’ve found with Spain, we can’t give a guarantee.
“We take decisive, swift action and so there is an element of uncertainty this summer if people go abroad. I’m not going to tell people what they should and shouldn’t do, they should follow the advice.”
In the abrupt about-turn, the Government ordered all British holidaymakers returning from Spain to isolate for 14 days. Last night Spanish officials were desperately trying to negotiate regional air bridges – quarantine-free travel to certain areas – including the Canary and Balearic islands, where the Covid situation isn’t as bad as on the mainland.
The UK Government’s decision comes less than a month after it published a list of 59 countries, including Spain, and 14 British overseas territories where Britons could safely go without having to quarantine on their arrival back.
Ironically, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who drew up the list, arrived in Spain for a family holiday just hours before the country was declared a danger. He will now have to quarantine when he returns. The decision to take Spain off the list follows data showing a spike in cases, with 2,255 new infections there in just one day.
It has also emerged that Spain’s death toll could be 60 per cent higher than the official figure of 28,432. This only includes people who had been formally diagnosed with coronavirus, not those who were suspected of having it but not tested. It means the tally could be nearly 45,000 – making the Spanish outbreak the second deadliest in Europe after the UK.
France also witnessed a daily jump from 1,062 to 1,130 infections, forcing officials to make mask-wearing compulsory in enclosed public spaces. In the last three weeks the country has seen a 66 per cent rise in Covid cases.
Yesterday the French health ministry warned: “We have returned to levels comparable with those at the end of the lockdown period. We have thus erased a good part of the progress made during the initial weeks since lockdown was lifted. It’s more essential than ever to reimpose our collective discipline.”
In Belgium, daily infections have jumped from 220 to 352, while Germany has seen numbers climb to their highest level since June 17.
The World Health Organisation reports a record rise in global cases, with the total climbing by 284,196 in just 24 hours. Travel expert Simon Calder told the Daily Express the UK Government had decided to “go nuclear” by taking Spain off its safe list.
Referring to the Martini advert, he said: “People now know it [the quarantine rule] can be brought in any time, any place, anywhere, and that’s just unspeakably awful.”
Airlines UK, the trade body representing UK-registered airlines, said: “With travel corridors only
having been introduced recently, it feels like two steps forwards and one step back.
“We need the Government to work with the sector to consider a more targeted, regional approach where quarantine could apply only to affected regions of a country, and to introduce airport testing so that those who are Covid-negative can continue to travel without the need to self-isolate upon arrival.
“These measures are vital if we’re going to support a sector through this latest blow and as we head towards what is going to be a hugely challenging winter.”
Among the Britons hit by the new lockdown rule is junior business minister Paul Scully, who is in Lanzarote. He joked on Instagram: “Best turn to gin. I’ll still be able to work.”
Others failed to see the funny side. Returning holidaymaker Emily Harrison, from Essex, who was at Madrid’s Barajas airport, said: “We had a wedding to go to and plans to visit friends and family who we haven’t seen in a very long time, so it’s really quite upsetting.”
Fellow tourist Carolyne Lansell said: “We’re quite frustrated by it to be honest, because it actually feels safer in Spain.”