Quarantine dismissed for holidays to Spain, France, Germany and Italy

There won't be a quarantine for these countries, but it doesn't work for entire UK. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland could not be forced to sign up.

People will travel freely for holidays to Spain, France, Germany and Italy from July 10 without quarantine, only for England residents. The goverment is planning to announce the system of country that will receive the “green light” on Friday.

No Quarantine for holidays to Spain, France, Germany and Italy

The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps confirmed that travellers to England from around 60 countries and overseas territories won’t have to face quarantine.

He reported to Sky News: “There will be a list of 50-plus countries. If you add in the overseas territories (there will be) 60-something-or-other that will be announced later today. “France, Germany, Italy and Spain will be on that list. It is really important that we have done this in a very careful and cautious way. The most important thing is to maintain the gains that we have had.”

Britons welcomed the news with pleasure.

Mr Shapps claimed that: “good news for British people and great news for British businesses.” However, the opening doesn’t concern the entire UK. In fact, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may not sign up, creating a strange loophole. Travellers could fly to an English airport, then cross the country’s border with other means of transport.

The traffic light system

It has passed one month since the implementation of 14-day quarantine on almost every country around the globe. From Friday, the government will release the “traffic light” list of countries, in relation to their coronavirus risks. A list 40 countries will have the green status and then 33 an amber rating. Among green one are Western Europe, all British overseas territories, and Turkey, Thailand, Sri Lanka and nations in the Caribbean.

Nevertheless, Australia, New Zealand and Greece, which are off-limits to British tourists, will be on the “amber” list. The “red” list may contain US, Brazil, Russia and Iran, according to the Times.

“The entire nation has worked tirelessly to get to this stage. Therefore safety must remain our watch word and we will not hesitate to move quickly to protect ourselves if infection rates rise in countries we are reconnecting with”, said Grant Shapps.

England against Scotland

The debate over the scheme saw UK government and Nicola Sturgeon accusing each other. Mr Shapps complained a delay in the announcement of the scheme by Scotland. In response Sturgeon said the assertion was “completely unfounded“. He accused UK government of failing to inform the Holyrood administration. Ms Sturgeon affirmed that the distorion of reality by Downing street “is disappointing but sadly not surprising“. UK Government answered: “We’ve taken a four nation approach to quarantine and we’ve been working closely with the devolved administrations on the next steps.”

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