(Adds possible changes to Spain quarantine rules)
By Estelle Shirbon
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Britain's Health Secretary Matt
Hancock said on Thursday he was worried about a second wave of
coronavirus infections in Europe and that the government would
not hesitate to act to bring back quarantine measures if
necessary to keep Britain safe.
Britain last week re-imposed a 14-day quarantine period on
people arriving from Spain. Some other European countries which
are currently exempt from the British quarantine measures have
seen infections rise, Hancock said, without naming them.
"I am worried about a second wave. I think you can see a
second wave starting to roll across Europe, and we've got to do
everything we can to prevent it from reaching these shores, and
to tackle it," Hancock said during an interview on Sky News.
"We have significant concerns about the second wave that is
coming across Europe. And it's not just Spain ... but there are
other countries too where the number of cases is rising. And we
are absolutely determined to do everything that we can to keep
this country safe," he said.
Hancock said the authorities were working on possible ways
to shorten the quarantine period for people coming from Spain
but no change was imminent.
"We are working on whether by testing people during that
quarantine it is safe to then be able to release them earlier
... But we are not imminently making an announcement on it," he
said in a BBC television interview.
"That work is not concluded. Until it is absolutely safe to
make that sort of change then we won't do so ... We won't be
making changes on that in the next few days."
(Writing by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Costas Pitas/Guy
Faulconbridge)