Holiday traff ic lights didn’t stop Covid spread

COMPLEX rules restricting international travel during the pandemic failed to stop new Covid variants spreading in Scotland, research shows.

Holidaymakers in the summer of 2021 endured a strict regime of testing, isolation and form-filling as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged people not to travel abroad.

But Public Health Scotland (PHS) found that those who stayed at home were 11 times more likely to test positive for the virus.

The report concludes that the ‘traffic light’ scheme – which saw countries categorised as red, amber or green according to the danger they supposedly posed – was of ‘limited value’. It added: ‘Riskbased post-arrival screening undertaken in Scotland did not in practice prohibit the importation of SARSCoV-2 cases, or the establishment of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.’

Mike Tibbert, president of the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association, said: ‘This report confirms what we in the sector were saying. The traffic light system was unclear, confusing and costly, with ever-moving goalposts. It was as ineffective as we thought.’

A UK Government idea, Ms Sturgeon criticised it as being unlikely to work, but changed her mind while advising Scots to holiday at home.

Outbound travellers had to fill in passenger locator forms before they departed and take a Covid test before returning. Those arriving from red-list countries where the risk was said to be highest had to isolate in a hotel for ten days.

During the scheme, there were 333,747 positive Covid tests in Scotland but only 541 among those coming from abroad.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Policy decisions were informed by best scientific evidence available at the time.’