Coronavirus: Greek islands added to England’s travel corridor and no countries relegated to quarantine list
The Greek islands of Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Santorini and Zakynthos have been added to England’s travel corridor list, transport secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed.
From 4am on Saturday, travellers from the Greek islands will no longer have to self-isolate for 14 days.
Mykonos and Crete remain on the quarantine list.
No new countries were added to England’s “red-list” this week after Turkey and Poland joined last week.
It comes as the rate of infection across the Greek islands was assessed by the Joint Biosecurity Centre as posing a lower risk.
The government’s current threshold for introducing quarantine measures on other countries is 20 cases per 100,000 people.
Sweden and Estonia were both expected to be added to England’s quarantine list, following a sharp spike in cases.
Sweden’s accumulative rate of infection over the past 14 days has hovered at the 65.8 mark, while Estonia’s is currently 51.5, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Italy’s caseload also shot up in the last week, tipping beyond the government’s safety threshold to stand at 52 per 100,000.
Testing times
However, from today all Britons visiting Italy must present evidence of a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours previously — or take a free test on arrival.
The maximum fine for repeat offenders who fail to self-isolate now stands at £10,000.
It comes as the government faces increasing pressure to roll out wide-scale testing at airports in a bid to curb infections from abroad.
Boris Johnson yesterday told the chief executive of Heathrow Airport that Britain will begin airport testing in two weeks time.
London Southend boss Glyn Jones urged the PM to speed up the process, telling Morning Wire that UK airlines will only begin to recover when an airport testing regime restores passenger confidence.
Main image credit: Getty