Croatia, Greece and Turkey could join the UK’s travel quarantine list as the countries record a rise in coronavirus cases
Croatia, Greece and Turkey could be joining the UK’s travel quarantine list after the countries have recorded rises in the coronavirus cases within the countries.
British holidaymakers who are returning into the UK from these three countries could be facing quarantine measures after France, Malta, the Netherlands, as well as other nations, were suddenly removed from the UK’s travel quarantine list.
Several thousands of Britons are believed to be currently on holiday in Croatia, Greece and Turkey, which have all begun to see spikes in cases of COVID-19.
This comes after an increase of coronavirus cases in Belgium, Luxembourg and Croatia are reportedly prompting concern about travel in the government.
The rate of infections is up in Croatia, which recorded 208 new cases on Friday, 162 on Saturday and 151 on Sunday.
Krunoslav Capak, Croatia’s chief epidemiologist, said at a press briefing:
“The average age of those infected is 31 years as some two-thirds were infected in the nightclubs and bars that remain open beyond midnight,”
So far Croatia, a country of four million people, has recorded 6,571 cases of COVID-19 and 166 deaths.
The latest figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the week of the 10th to the 16th of August show that there are now 21.5 infections per 100,000 people in the nation.
This is a rise of 175% from 7.8 infections of the virus per 100,000 in the week of the 3rd to the 9th of August, and, crucially, is a figure which is above the UK government’s threshold for quarantine of 20 cases per 100,000 people within a week.
Michelle Clifford, Sky News’ Europe correspondent, said: “It also believes cases are coming in from abroad from a number of countries – Spain, Greece and Croatia. People coming into Italy from those areas will either have to be immediately tested at the airport or within 48 hours.”
Infections of the coronavirus in Greece are up since the country’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, officially declared that Greece’s tourist season was open on the 13th of June.
This comes after three people are now believed to have tragically died after a train derailment in Aberdeenshire, with one person currently unaccounted for, following storms occurring in the area. Torrential rain, as well as thunderstorms across the country, have caused a great deal of flooding and travel disruption across many areas within of central and eastern Scotland.
A No 10 spokesman said: “We continue to keep these rules under constant review and we publish a list of the countries and territories that we are concerned about. You’ll have seen the last update as of last week.”
Asked about the limited time between new quarantine measures being announced and their implementation, he added: “We’ve always said that protecting public health remains our top priority, which is why it is important that when we make changes to the exemptions list we do so in a swift way.”
“While these changes we understand can be disruptive, it is right that we take quick action.”
