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LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Britain said that fully-vaccinated
travellers returning to England from France will no longer have
to quarantine, scrapping an extra rule imposed on its closest
neighbour last month, as it also opened up to seven more
countries.
The government said the change to France's status from Aug.
8 at 0300 GMT would help simplify its travel rules, and would
also allow quarantine-free travel from more places, in a boost
for the beleaguered travel industry.
Britain has one of the fastest vaccination programmes in the
world but the government has so far stopped airlines and travel
companies from making a full recovery with a maze of rules and
last-minute changes which have scared off holidaymakers.
It operates a "traffic light" system for international
travel, with low-risk countries rated green for quarantine-free
travel, medium risk countries rated amber, and red countries
requiring arrivals to spend 10 days in isolation in a hotel.
Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and
Norway will all be added to Britain's green list for low-risk
travel from Aug. 8, the government said on Wednesday, meaning
that arrivals into England from those places do not have to
self-isolate whether they are fully vaccinated or not.
"While we must continue to be cautious, today's changes
reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the
globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling
public," transport minister Grant Shapps said in a statement.
The government also said the cost of hotel quarantine for an
adult would increase to 2,285 pounds ($3,177.98) from 1,750
pounds to ensure taxpayers were not paying for the scheme.
LONG HAUL BOOST
Airlines like British Airways will also be pleased
to see more potential for long-haul travel, as India, Bahrain,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were moved to the amber list
from the red list.
The change to the status of France, the second most popular
destination for Britons before the pandemic, means it rejoins
the amber list. The government said it made the change because
the prevalence of the Beta variant of COVID-19 there had now
fallen.
France had been on the amber list but became the only "amber
plus" country in mid-July, meaning that with just two days
notice even fully vaccinated people still had to quarantine on
their return, prompting an outcry from the travel industry.
There had been worries that Spain, the top destination for
Britons, would be added to the "amber plus" list in this latest
review, but the government instead advised arrivals from there
to take a PCR test pre-departure, rather than a cheaper lateral
flow test, where possible.
"UK clinicians and scientists will remain in close contact
with their counterparts in Spain to keep abreast of the latest
data and picture of cases in Spain," the government said.
($1 = 0.7190 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
