The Department of Transport of the United Kingdom, Grant Shapps, confirmed this Thursday, the 24th of June, that Madeira, Malta, the Balearic Islands, several overseas territories of the United Kingdom and the Caribbean islands (including Barbados) will be added to the green list Government, having fulfilled the necessary criteria to be reclassified. The measure takes effect from 4:00 am on Wednesday, June 30th.
On the other hand, the list of countries to be added to the red list includes Eritrea, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mongolia, Tunisia and Uganda, and all measures “will continue to be kept under review to protect public health as a priority”, reports the British government.
This Thursday, the Government’s intention was also confirmed to withdraw the obligation to quarantine those vaccinated who arrive in the UK.
“Our intention is that, at the end of the summer, fully vaccinated newcomers do not need to be quarantined when traveling from countries on the amber list. We expect this to happen in phases, starting with UK residents. At the same time, we intend to remove the guidance that people should not travel to amber countries.”
The British Government sends “more details for next month, including the rules that will apply to children and those who cannot be vaccinated”.
The “green list” is currently limited to 11 low-risk countries and territories, but the British travel and tourism industry has been pushing to be expanded to include popular summer holiday destinations such as Greece, Italy or Spain.
Portugal was the only country in the European Union (EU) to join this list, on May 17, but was demoted less than three weeks later, on June 6, to the “amber list”, of moderate risk.
This list, where most European countries are located, is subject to tighter restrictions, namely a 10-day quarantine on arrival in England, and two PCR tests, on the second and eighth days.
The “red list”, of countries that represent a high risk due to the circulation of new variants of the coronavirus, requires a 10-day quarantine in a designated hotel, in addition to two PCR tests, and travel is prohibited for non-essential reasons for those countries.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own rules but have the same ‘traffic light’ system for international travel and have accompanied England in decisions.
@ TNews
