Travellers from Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic must quarantine for 14 days if they arrive in the UK after 4am on Saturday. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps made the announcement on Twitter this evening. Mr Shapps said: “Data shows we need to remove the Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland from our list of #Coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN.
The Department for Transport said equivalent measures are being put in place in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Scotland took Switzerland off its safe list last week.
Cuba has now been added to the UK’s quarantine exemption list which means anyone travelling back from there to the UK will no longer need to quarantine for 14 days.
The Scottish Government also said that Cuba will be added to their list of destinations where travellers will be exempt from quarantine measures.
The Department for Transport said in a statement: “Infections from Covid-19 are on the rise across Europe.
“The Government has made consistently clear it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus, which includes removing countries from the travel corridors list rapidly, if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high.
“This means holidaymakers may find they need to self-isolate on return to the UK and are advised to consider the implications of self-isolation on them and their families before making travel plans.”
Commenting on Switzerland, Jamaica and Czech Republic being removed from the travel corridor list Patrick Ikhena, head of travel insurance at comparethemarket.com, warned holidaymakers that most insurers would not cover those travelling to those countries.
He said: “Switzerland, Jamaica and Czech Republic are the latest countries to be slapped with travel restrictions, with many UK holidaymakers likely to see their travel plans disrupted.
“The restrictions apply to the whole country, even those areas with low infection rates, and as a result this unfortunately means that most travel insurance policies will no longer provide cover to Switzerland, Jamaica and Czech Republic.
“The FCO has not yet explicitly stated that you shouldn’t travel to these regions, but if you choose to cancel your trip regardless to avoid the mandatory quarantine on your return, your policy is unlikely to pay out as your decision will be considered a ‘disinclination to travel’.
“Contacting your airline or hotel is another sensible course of action if your holiday plans have been scuppered by the latest restrictions, as they may be able to offer you some compensation, or alternative dates and destinations.”