Holiday destinations such as the US, Italy, Germany and Poland are against British tourists returning, it emerged today as the Government considers moving countries with low coronavirus case rates to the travel ‘green list’.
Travel experts have suggested the four countries could be among a host of popular ‘amber list’ locations – also including Malta, Croatia, Finland and the Balearic Islands – that could be opened up for quarantine-free travel.
Others that could be added include Grenada, Barbados and Jamaica along with Canada, Morocco and Croatia, according to travel consultancy the PC Agency which based its research on case rates per 100,000 people.
It comes as fully vaccinated Britons could enjoy quarantine-free holidays from as early as July 19 as ministers scramble to save the summer season – but will still face tough entry restrictions in many countries.
Boris Johnson is under huge pressure from senior ministers to sign off a ‘big bang’ reopening on so-called ‘Freedom Day’ with travel curbs eased at the same time as restrictions are lifted at home.
Formal advice against trips to ‘amber list’ countries would be dropped for those who have been double-jabbed under the plans – opening up summer breaks in Spain, France, Italy, Greece and the United States. Children would also be able to avoid quarantine if travelling with their parents.
Meanwhile, Malta and Spain’s Balearic Islands are on track to be added to the ‘green list’ tomorrow, offering more options for people desperate for some sunshine.
However, those taking advantage of the loosening still face tough restrictions on entry to major destinations. The US has a complete travel ban in place on Britons, while Italy requires five-day self-isolation on arrival. Germany only accepts people for ‘humanitarian reasons’ and has mandatory 14-day quarantine for arrivals.
Tomorrow’s ministerial meeting on foreign travel is expected to be followed by a further session on Monday. Ministers are expected to sign off the plans to allow the double jabbed to travel to amber list countries without the need for quarantine on return.
Downing Street is targeting August for the change. But ministers including Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are pushing for curbs on international travel to be lifted from July 19. This would allow families and the battered travel sector to make the most of the summer.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is said to be ‘sympathetic’ to the move because of the effectiveness of Covid jabs and yesterday he confirmed that ministers were ‘working on’ plans for quarantine-free travel.
However the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove are said still to be cautious.
The World Travel & Tourism Council wrote to Mr Johnson yesterday to say that maintaining restrictions on the sector through July would cost the UK £639million a day.
Its warning came as:
- Ministers agreed with Uefa a deal that will see 60,000 fans pack Wembley for the final of the Euros, in the biggest trial of Covid passports to date;
- The Prime Minister faced renewed pressure to bring forward Freedom Day to July 5, as Covid data continued to improve;
- Nicola Sturgeon warned that Covid restrictions could remain in place in Scotland until August 9;
- The head of a government taskforce on the future of work suggested Britain could move towards a four-day week;
- Matt Hancock said Britain was on track to reopen on July 15 following ‘encouraging’ data on hospitalisations and deaths;
- Daily cases rose to 11,625, the highest figure since mid-February, but deaths are averaging just 13 per day.
UK tourists are currently banned from the US – and for business travellers allowed in, a pre-departure test or proof of recovery from Covid-19 is required, before they quarantine for at least seven days and take a further test.
And Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, said the Indian variant of Covid-19 which has become widespread in Britain – is now the greatest threat to the US’s efforts to eradicate the virus in its borders.
The PC Agency travel consultancy has suggested that 14 countries currently on Britain’s amber list could be moved to green. Separately, there are also suggestions that the bottom two countries, France and Greece, could also make it onto the list
Fully vaccinated Britons could enjoy quarantine-free holidays from as early as July 19, the Mail can reveal today. Pictured: People sunbathe on the beach on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, as a flow of migrants arriving on the Mediterranean island, in Lampedusa, Italy, June 22
The variant, also known as Delta, accounted for 20 per cent of Covid-19 infections in the US over the last two weeks – and Dr Fauci warned the US could be following Britain’s course where it has become the dominant strain.
The US has been gradually reopening, with New York City allowing drinking at an indoor bar for the first time in months on May 3, days after Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city should reopen in full on July 1.
Then on June 15, the state of New York lifted all state-mandated restrictions, including capacity limits of 50 per cent for retailers and 33 per cent for gyms – with mitigation measures required on public transport and healthcare.
New York joined California, where most remaining crowd-capacity limits and physical distancing requirements were also lifted on June 15. New York City and Los Angeles plan to fully reopen schools from September.
Chicago and Illinois fully reopened on June 11, while the states of New Jersey and Connecticut lifted most capacity restrictions on businesses, including retail stores, food services and gyms, on May 19.
In Italy, Health Minister Roberto Speranza introduced mandatory testing and a five-day quarantine for all visitors from Britain from Monday, which was announced last Friday as concerns grow there over the variant’s spread.
Italy was following in the footsteps of France, Austria and Germany, which have already also introduced varying curbs on those entering from Britain.
Italy had lifted quarantine restrictions for travellers arriving from European and Schengen countries, as well as Britain and Israel, from May 15.
Its Italian coffee bars, restaurants, cinemas and theatres partially reopened in most regions on April 26. Indoor service at restaurants resumed from June 1. A nightly curfew was scrapped from Monday, and wearing masks outdoors will not be mandatory from June 28.
As for Germany, it is also against UK tourists entering, with Chancellor Angela Merkel criticising the Portuguese government after it allowed Britons to come in and is now facing a spike in Covid-19 infections.
She said yesterday: ‘What I regret is that we have not yet been able to achieve a uniform behaviour among the member states (in the European Union) in terms of travel restrictions. That is backfiring.
‘We now have a situation in Portugal that could perhaps have been avoided, and that’s why we have to work even harder on this. We’ve made pretty good progress in recent months, but we’re not yet where I would like the European Union to be.’
Germany eased restrictions on those fully vaccinated or recovered from the virus from May 9, lifting curfews as well as the obligation to provide a negative test result to visit a hairdresser, a zoo or to go shopping.
General travel warning for risk regions that have a seven-day coronavirus incidence of below 200 will be lifted from July 1. A rule which forces companies to allow working from home will be lifted on June 30.
Germany is also on target for outdoor concerts this summer, with social distancing and COVID-19 testing for attendees, and fans should be back at soccer matches in August.
Meanwhile Poland is now introducing a mandatory seven-day quarantine for all UK travellers to curb the Indian variant spreading, with the country’s health ministry saying it ‘must take care of our citizens and their security’.
Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said: ‘The decisions made on quarantine for travelers arriving from Great Britain are intended to reduce the risk of transmission of the Delta coronavirus variant from the endangered area.’
The quarantine rules will not apply to travellers who have been fully vaccinated when arriving in Poland, which has reported 2,879,030 cases of coronavirus and 74,858 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Senior ministers are pressing Boris Johnson (pictured during his visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre temporarily set up at StoneX Stadium, home of English rugby union club Saracens, in north London, on June 21, 2021) to sanction a ‘big bang’ reopening with travel curbs eased at the same time as restrictions are lifted at home
Poland reopened shopping centres, hotels, restaurants cinemas, theatres and concert halls in May, before indoor dining, indoor sports facilities and swimming pools reopened on May 28.
Large indoor events with up to 50 people were allowed from May 28, a number that was tripled on June 6. From June 13, churches can be filled up to 50 per cent of capacity.
Limits for concerts and sports events will be raised from June 26 to 50 per cent of seats, while hotels can be filled to up to 75 per cent capacity. People who have been vaccinated are not counted in the capacity limits.
In Finland, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is recommending against all unnecessary travel to the UK to avoid the spread of the Indian variant.
However other countries which could be moved to the ‘green list’ have been more welcoming, including the Carribean island of Grenada which has zero active Covid-19 cases at the moment.
Its Tourism Minister Clarice Modeste Curwen said earlier this month: ‘We strongly believe that Grenada should be added to the UK’s green list as we have taken all the necessary measures to ensure the islands are safe and ready for visitors.’
A Cabinet source told the Mail there was clear evidence vaccinations were working.
‘It’s all over, even if not everyone in Government has realised it yet,’ the source said. ‘The link between cases and deaths is broken. We know that double jabs work to protect people so why delay the resumption of international travel? There is no reason not to go ahead now – every day counts.’
Mr Hancock said the Government was being ‘cautious about international travel’ in order to protect the progress made at home. But he added: ‘Having said that, the whole point of the vaccine programme is to be able to remove restrictions, and for people to be able to be kept safe by the vaccine, rather than by these rules.’
Huw Merriman, Tory chairman of the Commons transport committee, welcomed plans to lift quarantine requirements for the fully vaccinated, but said they should be brought in immediately.
‘There’s no reason to hold back or delay until August,’ he said. ‘The vaccine is effective and the NHS app provides proof for the millions who have received it. The industry has been working for months to make this vaccine dividend operational.
‘We now look to the Government to give the green light and let the industry crack on with making it work.’
Andrew Flintham, managing director of travel giant Tui, warned that many companies were ‘perilously close to failing’, adding that ‘every week that goes by just pushes those people closer to that very sad outcome’. The Business Travel Association said that, up to mid-June, GDP had taken a £3.18billion hit from the decline of business travel in the pandemic.
The World Travel & Tourism Council warned up to 218,000 UK jobs could be lost if no action was taken. This is in addition to the 307,000 travel-related posts lost last year.
A Government source said August was the most likely start date for the new travel system. The source said that although people can already prove vaccine status with the NHS app, it would ‘take time’ to implement the change.
Quarantine free holidays to Ibiza and Mallorca could resume within days after Government scientists advised that they can be moved to the travel green list. Pictured: Menorca
Quarantine free holidays to Ibiza and Mallorca could resume within days after Government scientists advised that they can be moved to the travel green list.
It comes as a welcome small relief for the travel industry – with tourism chiefs warning they face their ‘darkest hour’.
Industry leaders have pleaded with ministers to lift Covid travel curbs to save them from going bust this summer.
Ministers will meet tomorrow to decide which – if any – countries should be added to the tiny list of destinations where foreign holidays are currently permitted.
But scientists have advised ministers that the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain are now safe to be given green status.
If agreed, British holidaymakers could travel to Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca and Formentera without the need to quarantine on return.
Malta, which was approved by scientists but controversially rejected by ministers last month, is also expected to be added.
They would be the first mainstream holiday destinations on the list since the controversial removal of Portugal last month.
However, mainland Spain will remain on the amber list, meaning that travel is advised against, and quarantine is required on return.
Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the UK’s largest travel association Abta, led calls yesterday for restrictions to be eased amid the success of the vaccine rollout. He warned ‘the wolves are at the door’ for thousands of businesses.
Industry leaders have pleaded with ministers to lift Covid travel curbs to save them from going bust this summer. Ministers will meet tomorrow to decide which – if any – countries should be added to the tiny list of destinations where foreign holidays are currently permitted. Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Opening the Travel Matters conference of industry bosses, organised by Abta, Mr Tanzer said: ‘They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn. This dawn has been a long time coming, and we desperately need to see day breaking soon.
‘And yet at our hour of greatest need the Government seems intent on looking away. We’re desperate. We have members on the point of failure, of losing their businesses, in some cases their homes.’
Hundreds of industry bosses and employees will descend on Parliament Square today as part of a ‘Travel Day of Action’ in protest at the Government’s handling of the issue.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said: ‘It is now or never for the Government to reopen travel and save what is remaining of the summer season – not just for families desperate to get away but the tens of thousands of jobs which rely upon this once thriving sector.’
Ministers will also consider on Thursday whether quarantine rules for double-jabbed holidaymakers from medium-risk amber nations should be dropped. As it stands, all amber arrivals must quarantine for at least five days regardless of whether they have been jabbed.
Mr Tanzer said his organisation was considering legal action against the Government over its traffic light system. He accused ministers of failing to share the data upon which the decisions are made.
Mr Tanzer added: ‘Outbound travel is the sort of naughty child of everyone… that’s a bias we have to overcome.’
Meanwhile, Tui announced it was joining Virgin Atlantic and British Airways’ parent company IAG in supporting legal action already launched against the Government.
The UK’s largest tour operator said the three firms have become interested parties in a challenge launched by Ryanair and Manchester Airports Group last week. The legal bid is an attempt to force ministers into being more transparent over how countries are ranked green, amber and red.
Tui’s Europe boss, Andrew Flintham, called some decisions ‘inexplicable’ and said the action was a last resort as ‘we’ve reached the end of our tether’.
He added: ‘We have the world’s best vaccination programme, maybe bar Israel, yet we have one of the world’s most restrictive travel programmes, maybe bar Australia.’
Both the US and European Union are allowing fully vaccinated citizens to sidestep testing or quarantine measures for holidays.
Huw Merriman MP, Tory chairman of the Commons transport committee, told delegates that the Government’s travel policy had been ‘shambolic’.
Antibody positive levels are highest among older age groups who have had two doses but rising fast in younger adults, too. In those who were first to get vaccinated the rate of immunity has flattened off at over 99 per cent, showing almost everyone has at least some protection against the virus
He said: ‘It’s been the sector that really has become the poster child for having been treated the most miserably in terms of the rules, restrictions and support from the Government.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘We recognise the challenging times facing all sectors of transport as a result of Covid-19, which is why we put in place an economy-wide support package.’
Other promising data today revealed the country has moved one step closer to herd immunity, with nearly nine in 10 adults now having antibodies against Covid.
The major Office for National Statistics (ONS) blood testing survey highlighted the success of the UK’s mammoth vaccination campaign, which is now open to every adult in all four home nations. Almost 60 per cent of over-18s (31.5million) are now fully jabbed.
But only 60,000 jabs were recorded as being dished out yesterday because of an ‘IT issue’ affecting England. The problem resulted in clinicians having to log who received their vaccine with pen and paper.
Britain is recording nearly 10,000 daily infections now compared to 2,000 in late April when the ‘Delta’ variant was first seeded in the country.
But the speed at which cases are increasing every week has slowed to around 35 per cent, down from 65 per cent earlier this month.
Just 1,290 people are currently being treated in hospital for Covid now, compared to nearly 40,000 at the peak of the second wave. The current figure is significantly better than even the best case scenarios modelled by some scientific groups within SAGE.
Weekly coronavirus deaths are also continuing to fall. A Office for National Statistics’ weekly report today found that there were 84 deaths registered across England and Wales in the past seven days, the lowest figure recorded since September last year.
The same set of statistics also showed Covid accounted for just 0.8 per cent of all deaths recorded across the two countries in the most recent week — with flu and pneumonia now killing 10 times as many patients as coronavirus.
And analysis of the data by MailOnline revealed more than a third of all 300-plus councils across the two nations have not suffered a Covid fatality since April.
Britain’s impressive vaccination programme is the driving force behind the surging numbers of people who are showing signs of immunity and the low hospitalisation figures.
Across the whole of the UK, 43.1million people have had at least one dose of a jab.
The UK was expected to hit another milestone in the roll-out today, with ministers hoping to pass figure of 60 per cent of adults fully vaccinated.
HAS BRITAIN’S THIRD WAVE ALREADY PEAKED? Britain is recording nearly 10,000 daily infections now compared to 2,000 in late April when the ‘Delta’ variant was first seeded in the country. But the speed at which cases are increasing every week has slowed to nearly 30 per cent, down from 65 per cent earlier this month, suggesting the outbreak had peaked by the first week of June
But an IT system crash on Monday afternoon has caused a delay to the daily vaccination numbers, according to NHS England.
The issue resulted in clinicians being unable to log who had received their jab via the usual digital method, and instead had to record it with pen and paper.
Now the system is back up and running the data needs to be manually entered, which will be time consuming given that several hundred thousand doses are being administered each day.
‘Following the IT issue that was reported to the NHS yesterday (21 June), the daily Covid statistics will be updated tomorrow, while vaccinations recorded yesterday are updated to the digital system,’ the NHS England website said.
‘The issue is now resolved and there has been no impact on vaccinations taking place.’
People were still urged to get their jab if they had a booking, as it would cause no difference to the service. The problem was also an isolated incident, meaning the public could still access the booking site as normal.
On top of the vaccine effect, there are also positive signs that the new Delta variant can be controlled without lockdowns. Hotspots Bolton and Blackburn managed to get cases under control with extra testing and contact tracing.
This appears to have given No10 confidence it can push ahead with its July 19 planned unlocking, despite the Indian variant now accounting for almost every new infection.
Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘We are seeing that growth in case rates is slowing. Thankfully the number of hospitalisations, while rising, is not rising very quickly and thankfully even more is that the number of people dying from Covid remains very, very low.’
He added: ‘So I’d say we’re on track for the opening on the 19th of July, and we will watch vigilantly and we’ll look at the data in particular at the start of next week.
‘But I’d say the data has since, over last week or so, been encouraging, and especially looking at the number of people who are dying, that is staying very, very low and shows the vaccines are working and getting us out of this.’
Today’s ONS antibody report was based on random blood tests of around 18,000 adults across the UK between June 7 and June 10.
It showed that all the age groups over 34 in England had antibodies were estimated to have 90 per cent of people with antibodies, which independent scientists described as ‘remarkable’.
Overall, 86.6 per cent of the results in England were positive, with rates mostly even between regions. Wales had the highest proportion of positive tests at 88.7 per cent, but its results were based on just 654 samples.