UK travel corridor list: A timeline of changes made since June

Ministers decided this week to leave England's list of quarantine-exempt countries unchanged, despite rumours Portugal and Greece were set to be axed from the register.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the countries were not added to the quarantine list because figures suggested cases were decreasing in both.

He told Sky News on Friday: “The test positivity for example in Portugal actually came down on the last set of figures when we were making this choice and also on Greece the overall numbers came down.”

A seven-day rate of 20 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people is the threshold above which ministers have considered triggering quarantine conditions.

But officials in Wales and Scotland, for their part, decided to impose new restrictions this week as concern mounts over rising coronavirus transmission rates in some countries.

The developments came after weeks of repeated revisions to the quarantine-exempt travel list.

Here's how events have unfolded so far:

June 8

Two-week quarantine rules for all UK arrivals come into force in efforts to guard against a second wave of coronavirus.

All passengers – bar a handful of exemptions – are required to give contact details and the address where they will isolate.

July 3

The Government announces that quarantine restrictions for people returning to or visiting England from destinations such as Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Germany will be lifted from July 10.

The US is excluded from the list of 73 countries and territories, published by the Government, where English holidaymakers can visit without self-isolating on their return.

The Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive decide on the same approach, while the Scottish Government produces a list of just 39 countries.

July 10

Serbia is removed from England’s quarantine-free list on the day the “air bridges” policy is implemented.

The Government says that the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England have “updated their coronavirus assessments of Serbia based on the latest data”.

July 24

A further five countries are added to the list of England’s so-called travel corridors, with anyone coming from Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and St Vincent no longer required to isolate for two weeks on arrival.

Popular holiday destinations including Portugal, Thailand and the US remain notable absentees from the list.

July 25

Holidaymakers returning from Spain are told they must quarantine for 14 days after ministers removed the country from the UK’s safe list.

All four administrations – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – opted to join forces over the move, which comes into effect from midnight.

July 30

Luxembourg is removed from the travel exemptions list, the Government announces, with all passengers travelling to the UK from the country required to quarantine for two weeks.

August 6

Travellers arriving in the UK from Belgium, Andorra and The Bahamas are told to quarantine for 14 days from August 8, after the three countries are removed from the list of travel corridors.

August 11

Travellers arriving in the UK from Malaysia or Brunei are no longer required to self-isolate for 14 days after being added to the Government’s exemptions list.

August 13

Passengers from France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks & Caicos & Aruba are told they must quarantine for 14 days if they arrive in the UK after 4am the following Saturday.

August 20

Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago are all removed from the list of exemptions, with those travelling to the UK from these countries required to quarantine for two weeks.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says the measures will come into effect from 4am on August 22.

Meanwhile, passengers arriving in the UK from Portugal no longer have to self-isolate after it was added to the travel corridor list.

In Scotland, travellers from Switzerland are also required to quarantine for a fortnight – the only nation of the UK to add the country to its quarantine list on this date.

August 27

Travellers from Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic must quarantine for 14 days if they arrive in the UK after 4am on Saturday following spikes in coronavirus infection rates.

Reductions in coronavirus cases mean Cuba is added to the destinations from which people can arrive in the UK without entering quarantine, while Wales also removed the quarantine requirement for arrivals from Singapore.

September 1

Scotland removes Greece from its travel corridor list, requiring all travellers who return after 4am on September 3 to quarantine for two weeks.

September 3

The UK Government decides not to make any changes to England’s quarantine list, despite some families scrambling to get home from Greece and Portugal in the belief they were about to be hit with restrictions.

But Scotland blacklists Portugal and French Polynesia, giving travellers until 4am on September 5 to get home if they want to avoid a stint in self-isolation.

Wales also removes Portugal, although it does grant exemptions to its Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira.

Welsh travellers returning from Gibraltar, French Polynesia and the Greek islands of Mykonos, Zakynthos, Lesvos, Paros, Antiparos and Crete are hit with quarantine restrictions as of 4am on September 4.

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