The British Government will dispense with quarantine compliance for people traveling between the United Kingdom and some countries with a low risk of infection with covid-19, but the inclusion of Portugal is uncertain, reports The Times today.
According to the daily, the Boris Johnson government is close to closing a list of 10 countries considered safe for British tourists to travel without having to be in isolation for two weeks on their return, as is currently the case.
The list includes countries like France, Spain, Greece, Italy and Turkey due to low levels of infection with coronavirus, but Portugal, the Times said, is the subject of an “intense debate” due to the recent outbreak in the Algarve.
A government source told the newspaper that “any decision to accept travel corridors with other countries will be based on strict public health criteria.”
A party in Odiáxere, in the municipality of Lagos, resulted in at least 111 infected people, of which 19 are children under the age of 9, indicated the Regional Health Administration (ARS) of the Algarve, which will have carried out about 2,500 covid tests. 19 to contain the outbreak.
The Portuguese government has been active in lobbying the British authorities to open an “air corridor” to Portugal, the destination of more than 2.5 million Britons every year, which accounted for almost 20% of overnight stays from foreigners in 2019.
Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva told the BBC in early June that he was in negotiations with London and expressed hope of reaching an agreement by the end of the month and on Saturday Portugal’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Manuel Lobo Antunes, returned to express interest in an understanding.
“We think the situation is under control and we would be happy to welcome as many British people as possible,” he also told the BBC.
Since June 8, all people arriving from abroad to the UK, including Britons, have been forced to remain in isolation for 14 days to reduce the likelihood of contagion from covid-19.
Transgressions will be punishable by fines of one thousand pounds (1,100 euros), exempting persons from Ireland, freight transport drivers, doctors who are involved in combating the covid-19 pandemic and seasonal agricultural workers.
The formal date for the conditions of this measure to be reviewed is next week, but Health Minister Matt Hancock revealed on Monday that the announcement could happen earlier.
“We have a formal date for re-evaluating the quarantine policy at the end of the month and we will guarantee the publication in advance of what we plan to do in terms of where we think, based on epidemiological advice, we will be able to formalize travel corridors,” he said.
According to Monday’s data, the UK has recorded 42,647 deaths since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, the highest in Europe and the third highest number worldwide, behind the USA and Brazil.
Portugal accounts for at least 1,534 deaths associated with covid-19 in 39,392 confirmed cases of infection, according to the latest bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).
Globally, the covid-19 pandemic has already claimed more than 469,000 deaths and infected more than 9 million people in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
