Portugal stays on quarantine list as fears grow for Britons in France

MALAYSIA and Brunei were added to the Government’s “green list” of quarantine-free countries yesterday, but travel industry hopes of a reprieve for Portugal were dashed.

While the Asian nations have been deemed safe enough to be exempt from quarantine, sources warned that Portuguese cases had not fallen fast enough to justify a change in its status.

An industry source said: “While cases have been dropping overall, the case incidence remains high. Removing Portugal would be a gamble.”

Travel industry sources fear France will be dropped from the “travel corridor” list this week, leaving 500,000 British tourists facing a potential lastminute dash home or being forced into quarantine on arrival in the UK, it emerged last night, after daily cases came close to doubling in 24 hours.

Jean Castex, the prime minister, admitted the figures were “going the wrong way”, as 1,397 cases were recorded yesterday, compared to Monday’s figure of 785.

Mr Castex said it was “indispensable, and within our grasp” to avoid a new lockdown, saying the government hoped to expand the number of areas where wearing a mask is now compulsory in the open air.

Portugal registered 120 new cases yesterday, down from 290 last Friday. However, in the past 14 days, the cumulative number of cases per 100,000 rose to 24.6, its first increase in weeks.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre, which met yesterday to analyse the latest data, is understood to use cases per 100,000 as a key tool to establish risk level in nations. Countries with a figure over 20 are thought to be of particular concern.

Rising cases in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Malta have sparked fears they could also be struck off. Last week, Andorra, Belgium and the Bahamas were removed from quarantinefree travel “following data showing a significant increase in cases”.

Paul Charles, the founder of PC Agency, feared that Portugal’s summer season was “already lost”.

Meanwhile, Cyprus announced yesterday that UK nationals will now have to self-isolate on arrival in the north.

It comes as Heathrow airport’s chief executive warned that quarantine is “strangling the UK economy”.

John Holland-kaye said: “Tens of thousands of jobs are being lost because Britain remains cut off from critical markets such as the US, Canada and Singapore. The Government can save jobs by introducing testing to cut quarantine from higher-risk countries, while keeping the public safe from a second wave.” Heathrow’s passenger traffic in July dropped by 88 per cent from 2019’s figures.