Government Announces Green Travel List Of Places UK Residents Can Travel During Covid-19
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The countries on the government's green travel list have officially been announced.
From 17th May, British travellers will be able to jet abroad once more, but only to a select few locations including Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel, as part of the new 'traffic light' system.
Speaking on Friday, the government's Transport Secretary, Grant Schapps, announced countries that are marked as red, amber and green - the latter meaning holidaymakers from England don't have to enter any form of quarantine.
Countries on the green list are :
- Australia
- Brunei
- Faroe Islands
- Falkland Islands
- Gibraltar
- Iceland
- Israel
- New Zealand
- Portugal including Madeira and Azores
- Singapore
An amber colour code means Brits have to self-isolate for 10 days, unless they are given a negative result from a test, which they've taken at least five days after arrival. They'll also have to take a pre-departure test, and PCR tests on the second and eighth days of their arrival in the UK.
Countries on this list are France, Spain, Greece.
And the red list - which means travellers must spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel, take a pre-departure test, and PCR tests on the second and eighth days of their arrival in the UK - includes Turkey, the Maldives and Nepal. We'll update you when we know more.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are yet to announce when they will ease their travel rules.
The traffic light system aims to categorise countries depending on their Covid-19 risk status.
There are many factors taken into account, such as the percentage of a country's population which has been vaccinated, rates of infection and new emerging variants.
Other issues such as how much scientific data a country has and access to genomic sequencing have also been noted.
The green list of countries is to be reviewed every three weeks on this basis, and will be adapted accordingly.
During the announcement today, Schapps said the country had made "huge progress" this year, but stressed this isn't the time to relax.
"We don't want to return to the days of misery, suffering and loss," he warned, as he stated it was essential to "tread carefully".
Schapps added that the route out of the pandemic was "careful and prudent - a responsible one".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also warned against encouraging an "influx of disease" as a result of travel resuming.
"We have got to be very, very tough, and we have got to be as cautious as we can, whilst we continue to open up," he said earlier this week, ahead of the travel announcement.
Topics: UK News, lockdown, Coronavirus, travel, Covid-19
