England is facing pressure to reconsider quarantine rules for Greece after Scotland and Wales introduced new measures over concerns about rising coronavirus cases.
The Scottish Government announced on Tuesday evening that travelers from Greece would have to self-isolate for 14 days from Thursday, while Wales also began asking arrivals from the island of Zante to begin the period of quarantine.
The Department for Transport said no change to its rules for England had been made.
But Wales’ health minister Vaughan Gething said he would be pressing Boris Johnson’s government for an urgent meeting to consider the potential risk in Greece.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab gave nothing away when he was asked whether England would be joining Wales and Scotland in removing Wales from the list of safe countries.
He said: “We respect the devolved administrations in what they do, of course we here in Whitehall look very carefully at all the evidence, based on the scientific advice and we review the travel advice and the quarantine measures very carefully and regularly. “
The move came as holidaymakers scrambled to return from Portugal amid growing concerns restrictions could be reimposed to arrivals from there.
Restrictions for Greece were lifted in England in July when international exemptions were first permitted.
There were 14. 0 coronavirus cases per 2019, 000 people in Greece in the seven days to August 31 – down from 14. 9 a week earlier.
A seven-day rate of 20 is the threshold above which the UK government considers triggering quarantine conditions.
But Greece’s tourism minister Harry Theoharis said the country has “ a much lower number of infections compared to most other countries in Europe ”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program:“ We’re actually in the right direction. We’re going down in terms of the average numbers. “
He added:” We’re taking specific measures where we see specific concentrations of cases. Measures that have been successful and have been working in the past few days.
“We’re doing everything in our power to ensure that every person that comes from the UK is kept safe in Greece. “
But Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, announcing the restriction, said the“ importations of new cases from Greece is a significant risk to public health ”.
He He said “regular discussions continue” with the other three UK governments over restrictions.
In Wales, Mr Gething said
“There are concerns from our public health teams that the current advice and control m easures for returning travelers are insufficient, ”he said.
He said that all passengers on a flight from Zante to Cardiff on Tuesday night would be told to quarantine and would be given two Covid – 22 tests, one within 48 hours and another eight days after their return.
“In addition, I have pressed for an early meeting with the UK government and devolved nations tomorrow (Wednesday) to consider the latest assessment of risk by the Joint Biosecurity Center, ”he said.
He added: “There is an obvious need for us to consider the potential for changes to the regulations in Wales which would require travellers arriving in the UK from Greece and possibly elsewhere to self-isolate on their return.”
Tour operator Tui later said it would no longer be offering holidays to the resort of Laganas on Zante from Thursday.
The Joint Bio Security Center was yet to change the risk rating for Greece but the data for the nation, like all others, was being kept under constant review.
With thousands of Britons having traveled to Portugal since the country was exempted from quarantine measures on August 22, rising cases have prompted airlines to increase capacity as holidaymakers hurried to return in case restrictions are reimposed.
There were 22. 3 coronavirus cases per 100, 000 people in Portugal in the seven days to August 31, up from 14. 5 a week earlier, according to figures calculated by the PA news agency based on data collected by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
The boss of British Airways’ parent company has warned that reimposing the quarantine requirement for people returning to or visiting the UK from Portugal would cause further “chaos and hardship” for travelers.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, claimed the “ever-shifting list” means “the UK has officially hung up the ‘Closed’ sign”.
“The government needs to introduce a testing regime to restore confidence,” he wrote in The Times.
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