Site icon Londra Gazete

Belgium, Andorra, and Bahamas added to UK quarantine list

People arriving into the UK from Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra will have to quarantine for 14 days.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes start at 04:00 BST on Saturday except in Wales, where it started midnight on Thursday.

The countries are the latest to have a change in rules, after quarantines were reimposed for Spain and Luxembourg.

The Foreign Office is also warning against “all but essential travel” to the three countries.

But travellers from Brunei and Malaysia arriving in England and Wales will no longer need to self-isolate, after a decrease in confirmed coronavirus cases.

The transport secretary has previously said he “cannot rule out” other countries being included on the list as the travel advice is kept under review.

People who do not self-isolate when required can be fined up to £1,000 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and those returning to Scotland could be fined £480, with fines up to £5,000 for persistent offenders.

Up to 1.8 million British nationals visit Belgium every year, while 150,000 visit Andorra. The Bahamas, meanwhile, saw more than 36,000 visits from the UK in 2018.

According to figures on Thursday, Belgium has a rate of 49.2 new cases per 100,000 people, above the UK’s latest rate of 14.3. For comparison, Spain’s rate was 27.4 around the time it was removed from the UK’s travel corridor list.

Last week, Belgium introduced new restrictions that mean that people can only meet the same five people outside their household in a month.

Meanwhile, Belgium’s neighbour, France, is also seeing a surge in cases.

Exit mobile version