Travellers entering the UK from Croatia, Austria and
Trinidad & Tobago will have to self-isolate for 14 days from 0400 on
Saturday, 22 August, according to a Tweet by transport secretary Grant Shapps,
but Portugal has been added to the list of travel corridors.
The decision to remove Croatia from the list of safe
countries had been expected, with coronavirus cases in the country increasing
164 per cent between 12 and 19 August, according to the Joint Biosecurity
Centre and Public Health England. Meanwhile, Austria’s cases surpassed the
government’s threshold today, increasing 93 per cent to 20.3 cases per 100,000
since 13 August. Along with the quarantine requirement, the Foreign Office is changing
its advice to warn travellers against all but essential journeys to the three
nations.
The countries join Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and
the Netherlands, along with the Bahamas, Andorra, Monaco, Malta, Turks and
Caicos Islands and Aruba in being removed from the safe list on short notice.
At the same time, a decrease in cases in Portugal has given
the government the confidence to establish a travel corridor with the country
from Saturday.
Meanwhile, Scotland has also removed Switzerland from its
safe list, meaning travellers returning from the country will have to
quarantine themselves for 14 days from 0400 on Saturday.