Brits heading to Portugal urged to check Foreign Office advice amid warning 'things can change' over quarantine list

The 14-day quarantine for people returning from Portugal was lifted less than a fortnight ago but Covid-19 cases are rising again

Holidaymakers considering jetting off to Portugal were today warned that “things can change” over quarantine on their return to the UK.

They were urged to check Foreign Office travel advice on flying abroad for late summer and autumn breaks but also to take into account that the rules could change while they are on holiday.

The 14-day quarantine requirement for people returning from Portugal was lifted less than a fortnight ago after a fall in Covid-19 cases but now they have started rising again , raising the prospect of the restriction possibly being re-imposed.

“You take a risk at the moment travelling,” Government minister Nick Gibb told Sky News.

“We are in the middle of a global pandemic and if people do go abroad on holiday they do need to look at the advice before they go.

“But also bear in mind that things can change and we do monitor very closely the infection rates in other countries and those countries that are in the corridors that we allow people to go to and return without quarantine and these matters will change if infection rates rise.

“We cannot undo all the great work that we have done as a nation to reduce the infection rate in this country simply to see it rise because of importing it from other countries.”

There were 21.1 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to August 30, up from 19.4 in the seven days to August 29.

Travellers returning to the UK from certain countries face a two-week quarantine
REUTERS

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

Searches for flights to Portugal soared after the country was removed from the UK’s quarantine list less than a fortnight ago.

Passengers arriving in the UK from Portugal no longer had to self-isolate from 4am on Saturday August 22 after an approved travel corridor was confirmed.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, warned that putting Portugal back on the UK’s quarantine list would cause further “chaos and hardship” for travellers .

He claimed that the “ever-shifting list” of countries requiring quarantine means “the UK has officially hung up the ‘Closed’ sign”.

Travellers returning from Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic were the latest to be told they must quarantine for 14 days if they were arriving in the UK after 4am on Saturday following spikes in coronavirus infection rates, with the restriction previously also imposed on France.

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