British Tourists Face More Virus Disruption, Sunak Warns
British Tourists Face More Virus Disruption, Sunak Warns
(Bloomberg) --
Boris Johnson’s government warned British tourists they face more disruption to their plans for holidays in Europe amid reports that France may be next on the U.K. list of countries hit by coronavirus travel restrictions.
Belgium, Andorra and The Bahamas were added to the quarantine list late Thursday -- meaning all passengers arriving from these areas will need to self-isolate at home or in the place they are staying for 14 days.
With Spain already on the list, and therefore effectively ruled out for tourists after a rise in virus cases, British newspapers reported officials are now closely monitoring the rising rate of infections in France.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak warned there is “always the risk of disruption to travel plans” and said the situation for tourists planning to go to France is “tricky.”
“What I can say to people is we’re in the midst of a global pandemic and that means there is always the risk of disruption to travel plans, and people need to bear that in mind,” Sunak told Sky News on Friday.
The government said Thursday that people arriving in England from Andorra, Belgium and the Bahamas will need to be quarantined for two weeks, effective from Aug. 8. The government also changed its official travel advice to urge against all non-essential trips to these countries.
The government “will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus, including removing countries from the travel corridors list rapidly if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
In a sign of the U.K.’s own troubles with controlling the virus, the Department for Health and Social care said Friday the town of Preston has been added to the areas in northwest England with additional social distancing to try to reduce the rate of infections.
Swindon, in southwest England, and Bedford, in the Midlands, have also been added to the U.K.’s watch list as “areas of concern” due to increases in cases, the department said.
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