People arriving in Wales from mainland Portugal and a list of other locations after 4am on Friday will have to self-isolate for 14 days.
Arrivals into Wales from Gilbraltar, French Polynesia, mainland Portugal, Crete, Zakynthos (Zante), Mykonos, Lesvos, Paros and Antiparos will have to self-isolate under the new restrictions set by the Welsh Government.
Scotland added Greece to its quarantine list on Thursday, while mainland Portgual and French Polynesia are to be added from 4am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the UK Government has made no changes to its travel corridors list in England, despite reports that Portugal may be removed and added to the quarantine list.
Each of the four nations of the UK have the power to set their own quarantine restrictions, but until recently, the countries on the quarantine lists were the same across all four nations. Now, different parts of the UK have different measures in place, which could lead to some confusion over who needs to self-isolate.
What is the travel corridors list and the quarantine list?
The ‘travel corridors’ list refers to a list of countries which are exempt from quarantine restrictions. For example, Cyprus is currently part of the travel corridors list – this means that arrivals to the UK from Cyprus do not have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival into the UK (unless they have Coronavirus symptoms).
The quarantine list refers to all other countries which are not part of the travel corridors list.
Over time, a number of countries have been removed from the travel corridors list and added back to the quarantine list – for example, France was removed from the travel corridors list in August, meaning arrivals to the UK from the country now need to self-isolate.
Why are quarantine measures being implemented for arrivals from more countries?
New quarantine measures are usually implemented following an assessment of different risks.
The decision to add a number of Greek islands to Wales’ quarantine list comes after a number of cases in Wales have been linked to people who recently travelled to and back from the island of Zante.
Portgual was added to the travel corridors list in the UK less than two weeks ago, however, in some parts of the UK, mainland Portgual has now been removed following a rise in Coronavirus cases in the country.
Why didn’t the UK Government make changes to the quarantine restrictions in England?
The UK Government did not make any changes to its travel corridors list on Thursday, despite the actions taken by Scotland and Wales.
The UK Government has said decisions around adding or removing countries to the travel corridors list look at a number of different factors and has said that it will take ‘decisive action’ if necessary to contain the virus, including by ‘removing countries from the travel corridors list rapidly’.
The Department for Transport is encouraging people to check the latest government advice before travelling.
The latest changes to the quarantine restrictions in parts of the UK are expected to cause significant disruption to the travel plans of UK holidaymakers. Some airlines including TUI have already cancelled some flights to Greece.
The lists of countries exempt from UK quarantine restrictions can be found at the relevant links: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
