Covid-19: England yet to add Greece to quarantine list as Scotland and Wales act

England is continuing to allow travellers to arrive from Greece without quarantining despite Scotland and Wales acting over concerns of rising coronavirus cases.

The Department for Transport said no change to its rules for England had been made on Tuesday after the Scottish Government told new arrivals to enter 14 days of isolation from Thursday.

Wales also began asking arrivals from the Greek island of Zante to begin the period of quarantine, with health minister Vaughan Gething pressing for a meeting with the UK Government to reconsider the rules for Greece.

The move came as holidaymakers scrambled to return from Portugal amid growing concerns restrictions could be reimposed to arrivals from there.

Restrictions for Greece were lifted in England in July when international exemptions were first permitted.

There were 14.0 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Greece in the seven days to August 31, down from 14.9 a week earlier.

A seven-day rate of 20 is the threshold above which the UK Government considers triggering quarantine conditions.

Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, announcing the restriction, said the “importations of new cases from Greece is a significant risk to public health”.

He said “regular discussions continue” with the other three UK governments over restrictions.

Mr Gething said six clusters amounting to more than 30 cases of Covid-19 in the last week had come from four flights, two of which landed in England.

“There are concerns from our public health teams that the current advice and control measures for returning travellers are insufficient,” he said.

He said that all passengers on a flight from Zante to Cardiff will be told to quarantine and would be given two Covid-19 tests, one within 48 hours and another after eight days from their return.

“In addition, I have pressed for an early meeting with the UK Government and devolved nations tomorrow to consider the latest assessment of risk by the Joint Biosecurity Centre,” he said.

“There is an obvious need for us to consider the potential for changes to the regulations in Wales which would require travellers arriving in the UK from Greece and possibly elsewhere to self-isolate on their return.”

Tour operator Tui later said it would no longer be offering holidays to the resort of Laganas on Zante from Thursday.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre was yet to change the risk rating for Greece but the data for the nation, like all others, was being kept under constant review.

With thousands of Britons having travelled to Portugal since the country was exempted from quarantine measures on August 22, rising cases there were prompting airlines to increase capacity as holidaymakers hurried to return in case restrictions are reimposed.

There were 22.3 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to August 31, up from 14.5 a week earlier, according to figures calculated by the PA news agency based on data collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The boss of British Airways’ parent company has warned that reimposing the quarantine requirement for people returning to or visiting the UK from Portugal would cause further “chaos and hardship” for travellers.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, claimed the “ever-shifting list” means “the UK has officially hung up the ‘Closed’ sign”.

“The Government needs to introduce a testing regime to restore confidence,” he wrote in The Times.

The travel editor at consumer group Which? criticised the quarantine response as provoking confusion and damaging the travel industry.

Rory Boland said: “Yet again haphazard announcements and rumours around quarantine have sparked chaos and confusion for holidaymakers, with many facing an unenviable choice between paying extortionate prices for last-minute flights home or the disruption caused by two weeks in isolation on their return.”