Portugal out of quarantine, but ‘too late’ for summer
‘Where there are hotspots, additional targeted measures need to be brought in place very quickly’
HOLIDAYS to Portugal are back on after the country was added to the Government’s “green list”, but Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago were struck from quarantine-free travel.
Ministers made the decision to act after coronavirus rates in Britons’ third most popular holiday destination fell to 14.4 cases per 100,000 people, well below the benchmark of 20.
The changes will come into force on Saturday at 4am, setting a 34-hour deadline for thousands of holidaymakers in countries being added to the “red list” to return home before mandatory 14-day quarantine comes into force.
However, travel industry insiders warned that the decision over Portugal may have come “too late”. The Government acted to remove the new destinations after data from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England indicated a “significant change” in the number and speed of confirmed cases in the countries.
On Thursday Croatia had 27.4 cases per 100,000 of the population, well over the threshold, and a 164 per cent increase on last week.
It is understood that JBC officials had highlighted specific cases imported to the UK from Croatia.
Approximately 875,000 British nationals visited Croatia in 2019 and around 20,000 are thought to be on holiday in the Balkan nation.
Austria was removed after hitting a weekly average case rate of 20.3, while
Trinidad and Tobago rose to 25.8. Switzerland and Greece are understood to remain under a close watch by officials.
The relegations come as the World Health Organisation warned that Balkan countries had “been very much a subregional hotspot over the summer”.
Dr Catherine Smallwood said yesterday: “Where there are hotspots and increased transmission, additional targeted measures need to be brought in place very quickly to nip transmission in the bud.”
The decision to add Portugal to the Government’s “green list” will be welcome news to its tourism industry. Only 32.6 per cent of the Algarve’s hotel rooms were booked last month, the worst rate ever for July, according to regional hotel association AHETA.
Noel Josephides, the director of the umbrella travel association AITO, said: “The news is welcome and will hopefully give Portugal’s industry a bit of reprieve for September. Sadly, it has already lost most of its summer season and this announcement may well be too late.”
Meanwhile, the addition of three new nations to the “red list” has sparked renewed calls for the introduction of airport testing.
Paul Charles, of the PC Agency, a travel consultancy, said: “It would transform livelihoods, protect jobs and enable our economy to thrive again.”
This week The Daily Telegraph reported that testing travellers would be considered by Cabinet ministers next week.