There has been much analysis of countries done by various companies based on the data the government said they were following. Even the most cautious people were expecting maybe 3 to 5 additional to the green list. Countries such as Malta that are doing well with both cases and vaccinations and should have been on the green list last time. Sadly the government now appears to be making it up how they please in order to appeal to many of their supporters that want the countries borders completely shut. Even Australia is now talking about a trial to let vaccinated people travel without quarantine!
Grant Shapps said: “I want to be straight with people, it’s actually a difficult decision to make, but in the end we’ve seen two things really which caused concern.
“One is the positivity rate has nearly doubled since the last review in Portugal and the other is there’s a sort of Nepal mutation of the so-called Indian variant which has been detected.
“We just don’t know the potential for that to be vaccine-defeating mutation and simply don’t want to take the risk as we come up to June 21 and the review of the fourth stage of the unlock.”
In this post:
Green list
From 8 June the green list will not have any additional countries and will in fact have one less. The list will be:
- Australia
- Brunei
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Gibraltar
- Iceland
- Israel and Jerusalem
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
- St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Red list additions
The countries that will be added to the red list are:
- Afghanistan,
- Bahrain,
- Costa Rica,
- Egypt,
- Sri Lanka,
- Sudan
- Trinidad & Tobago
From Tuesday 8 June at 4am, travellers from those countries will only be allowed to enter the UK if they are a UK or Irish National or resident in the UK. They will have to pay a minimum of £1750, to quarantine at a hotel for 10 days.
Amber list
Portugal will be added to the amber list from Tuesday 8 June at 4am. Arrivals after this time will need to isolate at home for up to 10 days and take a test on days 2 and 8. You can do Test To Release on day 5 (the day you arrive is day 0) at extra cost if you want to reduce quarantine. There are a few places now doing same-day or next-day test to release. I will be looking at this in an article soon.
7 comments
Remember when we said the travel corridor mess wouldn’t be repeated this go around? ????
To all those who were vaccinated because they thought it meant they would be able to travel- you’ve been conned.
Can we please just check the dates you have stated. Thanks ????????????
Whoops. Corrected. Was feeling a bit emotional with the announcement and must have been wanting to go back in time ????
It is a joke, literally. If government doesn’t want us to travel – they should have been very clear about it from the beginning and close the borders till August- September/whenever – until majority of adult population is fully vaccinated and protected. Not to pretend citizens can travel. Nothing is ready anyway: Heathrow and immigration is a mess, queues for 4-6 hrs are not acceptable, private labs are overwhelmed with tests and the season hasn’t even started for good, rules and traffic light system changes constantly etc. With this progress we will be able to travel in 2040 if we are lucky. For me it looks like a political game between UK and EU mostly.
I agree with this comment. Its a complete joke for the consumer, the airlines and the travel industry. Private Healthcare companies are ripping us off with test prices. I work for the NHS and have to do two Lateral Flow Tests at home weekly to ensure I dont have Covid. If its good enough for hospitals then it’s good enough for everything else including travel. All I can see is a money making exercise at the expense of Joe public.
So disappointing. I booked a trip to Greece for 29 June, gambling on the Greek islands becoming green. Alas, to no avail. My husband is a ICU doctor who cannot afford 10 days of quarantine after a much needed holiday. The frustrating thing is that this decision is political, not evidence based.
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