UK considers regional quarantine rules for overseas countries
The government is considering putting in place quarantine measures for certain regions of foreign countries rather than the whole country, transport minister Baroness Vere confirmed.
Speaking in the House of Lords today, Vere said: “For the time being we are taking the approach by country for border measures, but it is the case that it could be that we could put them in place for regions in the future.
“We are not there yet but we are certainly looking at it”, she added.
Vere was speaking as Germany’s foreign ministry warned its citizens against travelling to three Spanish regions where there has been a recent surge in coronavirus cases.
“We currently advise against unnecessary tourist trips to the autonomous communities of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre due to high infection numbers and local lockdowns,” the foreign ministry said today.
The move stands in stark contrast to the UK’s decision to impose countrywide mandatory quarantine rules on all those travelling to the UK from Spain.
Last night, the Foreign Office extended its travel advice to warn against essential travel to the Balearic and Canary Islands.
It was reported that the government was in talks with Spanish counterparts about an exemption for holidaymakers returning from the islands.
The decision by ministers met with dismay from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who said that it was a “mistake” and unjustified.
It was also criticised by travel association AITO, which said it had been made “without much forethought or common sense”.
Director Noel Josephides said: “The German approach shows some sensible and logical thinking on the part of the German government, in sharp contrast to the UK government’s swift panic response.
“Unfortunately it seems to have been made without much forethought or common sense or, indeed, without any consultation with the UK’s travel industry (both outbound and inbound), which was massively impacted by this move, as of course were the travel industry’s clients”.
Many European countries are seeing a rise in infections again as they move out of strict lockdowns.
Spain recorded its highest infection figure since May last Thursday with 2,615 cases, and has since had more than 2,000 cases a day.
As of yesterday, Spain has the highest number of cases in Europe after the UK, with 272,421 people infected according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Figures show that Spain has 35.1 cases per 100,000 compared to 14.7 in the UK.