Chancellor warns more countries could join quarantine list as Covid rates rise in France
The Chancellor has insisted the government won’t hesitate to add more destinations to its quarantine list amid heightened concerns over new coronavirus infection rates in France.
There are concerns France could be about to see a second wave of Covid-19 and is now periously close to being removed from the UK’s travel corridor.
Although there has been no official word from the government, the UK is said to be keeping a ‘close eye’ on the destination, as Covid-19 cases hit a two-month high, with new infections up a third in the past week.
If infection rates do not come down, British tourists to France face the possibility that they may have to quarantine on their return.
The Times reports one senior aviation source said holidaymakers should only book trips that can be easily rearranged at 24 hours’ notice, while PC Agency CEO Paul Charles, co-founder of pressure group Quash Quarantine, said: "It is vital that France gets its case numbers down over the next five days if it is to avoid the government adding it to its quarantine list."
Rishi Sunak told Sky News on Friday morning: "It’s a tricky situation. There is always a risk of disruption to travel plans and people need to bear that in mind.
"What I can say to people is we’re in the midst of a global pandemic and that means there is always the risk of disruption to travel plans and people need to bear that in mind.
"It’s the right thing for us to do to keep everything under review on a constant basis talking with our scientists, our medical advisers, and if we need to take action as you’ve seen overnight we will of course not hesitate to do that, and we’re doing that to protect people’s health."
On Thursday evening, the government announced three new countries have been taken off its ‘green’ travel list.
Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas have now been put on the list of countries where returning Brits must self-isolate for 14 days. The measure comes into force from 4am on Saturday.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is also advising against all but non-essential travel to the three destinations.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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