LATEST COVID COUNTRY GUIDE

TURKEY

THE country went from green to red this week after Turkish officials admitted that the tally of cases it had been publishing only included those who had t ested positive and had symptoms. Turkey had been proving hugely popular with British tourists in recent weeks, accounting for a third of all holiday searches made through the price comparison website TravelSupermarket.

MOROCCO

BORDERS opened to international tourists, including those from the UK, for the first time since March on Thursday. All visitors must present a negative test and proof of an accommodation booking on arrival. But, unfortunately, Morocco is not on the UK’s travel corridor list.

SOUTH AFRICA

AFTER one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in which even dogwalking and the sale of alcohol was banned, South Africa welcomed its first international tourists on Thursday. Borders remain closed to British travellers, however, as the UK is currently classed as ‘high risk’. Visitors from low and mediumrisk countries are required to present a negative test result. South Africa will review the data every two weeks.

CYPRUS

ONE of just a few countries remaining totally quarantinefree, Cyprus remains a good option for a sunny autumn break. Cases are rising, but are well below the British Government’s threshold for imposing a 14-day quarantine on return.

POLAND

ALONG with Turkey and the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, Poland was removed from the UK’s travel corridor list this week after its infection rate soared to 25.9 per 100,000, compared with 15.6 in the previous week.

THAILAND

THE popular South-East Asian country will admit its first international tourists since April on Thursday, when about 120 Chinese visitors are expected to arrive in Phuket. All will have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival and will be tested twice. Thailand, which is on the UK’s travel corridor list, has kept coronavirus infections low, with just 3,559 cases and 59 deaths.

ITALY

THE country’s infection rate has now passed 20 per 100,000, so it is likely to suffer the same fate as Turkey if this upward trend continues.

SPAIN

THE government has imposed a new lockdown on Madrid after the region’s infection rate was seven times higher than the average rate in Europe. The capital’s residents are barred from leaving the city except on essential trips. Spain recorded 11,000 infections on Wednesday, 44 per cent of which were in the Madrid region, and 177 more deaths nationally.