Czech Republic and Jamaica are set to join quarantine list
‘Vital to helping suppress virus’
SCOTS returning home from the Czech Republic and Jamaica will be required to self-isolate for 14 days when new rules come into force early tomorrow.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf announced the latest changes to travel regulations yesterday.
He did so as MSPs demanded answers from him over how many reports have been made to Police Scotland in relation to ‘quarantine issues’.
MSPs on Holyrood’s health committee are also keen to find out how many Scots who are in quarantine have gone on to develop Covid-19 symptoms and test positive for the virus, as well as which countries they visited.
In a letter to Mr Yousaf the committee’s convener, Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald, said they would also ‘urge further consideration’ of a regional approach to quarantine being developed.
He said that the committee would ‘welcome further detail on how that could be achieved’.
It has given Mr Yousaf a week to give his response – asking for a reply from him by September 3.
The letter came as Mr Yousaf announced that from 4am tomorrow, travellers returning to Britain from the Czech Republic and Jamaica will be required to quarantine for 14 days. The restrictions mean those affected are not even allowed to go outside for exercise or food shopping
Patrick Ikhena, head of travel insurance at comparethemarket. com, has warned that most insurers would no longer provide cover for the countries added to the quarantine list.
Travellers continue to be allowed to return from Greece, Gibraltar, Ireland, Denmark, Iceland and Turkey without having to selfisolate, although these countries are on a list of places the Government is monitoring.
Meanwhile, Cuba is to be added to the list of destinations where travellers are exempt from quarantine requirements.
Announcing the changes, the Justice Secretary said: ‘It is important to remember that we remain in the midst of a global pandemic and the situation in many countries can change suddenly.
‘With Scotland’s relatively low infection rate, importation of new cases from abroad remains a significant risk to public health.
‘We continue to closely monitor the situation in all parts of the world and base the decision we make on the scientific evidence available.’
He added: ‘Regular discussions continue to be held with the other three governments in the UK. Requiring travellers arriving from a non-exempt country to quarantine for 14 days on arrival is vital to helping prevent transmission of the virus and to suppress it.’