Now Greece put on quarantine list for Scottish sunseekers

PEOPLE returning to Scotland from Greece and its islands will need to go into quarantine for a fortnight from tomorrow.

In a fresh blow for families, the holiday hotspot was added to the long list of countries that travelling from means people must go into self-isolation.

It follows a significant rise in the number of cases being brought here by people coming back from Greece.

The rules come into force from 4am tomorrow. The move, which affects only Scotland, comes despite the prevalence rate per 100,000 people in Greece being below 20 – the rate that usually sparks quarantine restrictions.

But the Scottish Government said it made the decision because a number of cases can be traced back to Greece and its islands.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: ‘We are 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 Greece is a significant risk to public health.

‘I would also encourage people who have returned to Scotland from Greece in the last few days to be particularly careful in their social contacts.

‘We continue to closely monitor the situation in all parts of the world and base the decisions we make on the scientific evidence available. Requiring travellers arriving from a non-exempt country to quarantine for 14 days on arrival is vital to helping prevent transmission of the virus.’

People coming to Scotland from many popular destinations, including France and Spain, already need to go into self-isolation for 14 days on their return. There are fears Portugal will be re-added to the quarantine list within days.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said: ‘There is a compelling public health risk around importation of the virus, especially given the number of imported cases linked to the Greek islands.

‘The flow of travel between Scotland and Greece, and the behaviour we have seen from some of those travellers, means that on public health grounds there is a strong case – supported by public health directors – to remove Greece from the exemption list.’

Meanwhile, airport bosses have condemned plans to spend £1million on specialist staff to ensure foreign travel quarantine rules are followed.

The Scottish Government has announced it will hire and train 25 contact tracers to check people are going into self-isolation when they return from countries on the quarantine list.

But airport bosses hit out at the move. A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: ‘As the aviation industry, ourselves included, cut jobs to survive, it is astonishing that the Government is investing in a quarantine policy that is ineffective, unworkable and only exacerbates the harm already caused to the industry. We need a robust testing regime which both protects public health and provides reassurance and confidence for those who wish to and need to travel, but we have seen no movement on this despite our repeated calls.

‘Funding failure is not the answer. It is high time the Government acted to help this industry rather than leave it to fend for itself.’

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: ‘As levels of Covid-19 remain low in Scotland, we need to manage the risk of cases coming into the country, particularly from countries where infections are more prevalent than here.’

‘Cases linked to the Greek islands’