St Lucia bans holidaymakers who’ve visited Italy
St Lucia has banned holidaymakers who have visited Italy as well as mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Singapore within the previous 14 days.
The Caribbean island is believed to be the first to extend the ban to people who have visited Italy following an outbreak of the coronoavirus in towns in the Lombardy and Veneto region in the north of the country.
Italy has in recent days become Europe’s worst-affected country, with more than 300 cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) and 11 deaths
St Lucia has no confirmed cases of the virus, but in an update to its travel advice the island’s government said the ban on travellers who have been to the above countries, all of which have a concentration of cases, would remain until further notice.
The ban doesn’t apply to St Lucian nationals.
Meanwhile British holidaymakers, including TUI and Jet2holidays guests, remain trapped in a locked-down hotel in Tenerife which has been placed in quarantine after an Italian guest – and later his wife and two other pepole he was travelling with – was found to be suffering from coronavirus.
Other guests at the H10 Costa Adeje hotel have been ordered to stay in their rooms.
A second European hotel – the 108-room Grand Hotel Europa in the Alpine tourist hub of Innsbruck, Austria – is also in lockdown after an Italian receptionist tested positive for the virus.
Several other European countries have announced their first coronavirus cases, with all appearing to be linked to the growing outbreak in Italy.
Croatia and Switzerland said the cases involved people who had been to Italy, as did Algeria in Africa.
The first positive virus test has been recorded in Latin America – a Brazilian resident just returned from Italy.
However, other European countries have decided not to close their borders with Italy."We’re talking about a virus that doesn’t respect borders," said Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there were no plans to stop flights from Italy, which attracts about three million British visitors each year.
"If you look at Italy, they stopped all flights from China and they’re now the worst-affected country in Europe," he said.
British Airways is allowing customers with flights to northern Italy until March 2 – including to Milan or Venice – to rebook for a later date or another destination.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We advise against all but essential travel to 10 small towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto, which are currently in isolation due to an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus.
"Any British nationals already in these towns should follow the advice of the local authorities."
The quarantined towns in northern Italy are Bertonico, Casalpusterlengo, Castelgerundo, Castiglione d’Adda, Codogno, Fombio, Maleo, San Fiorano, Somaglia, Terranova dei Passerini – all in Lodi province in Lombardy – and Vo’ Euganeo in Padova province, Veneto.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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