Portugal and Italy ‘could be added to UK quarantine list within days’
It comes after cases of coronavirus in the two countries near the UK's acceptable level.
Portugal and Italy are at risk of being removed from the UK’s safe travel list within days as coronavirus cases are again on the rise, experts say.
The travel hotspot was only removed from the quarantine list last week after Portugese officials claimed the ‘situation is under control’.
However, travel expert Paul Charles said Portugal had now entered the ‘amber zone’, with 16.4 cases per 100,000, the Mirror reported.
Mr Charles also has fears for Italy as cases nearly doubled from 7 to 13 per 100,000 in a week.
The UK considers imposing quarantine conditions when a country’s rate of infection exceeds 20 cases per 100,000 people over seven days.
It comes after travellers returning from Switzerland, Jamaica and Czech Republic were yesterday told they would have to enter two-week quarantine. It followed Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago last week.
The 14-day quarantine was also imposed on Spain and France, the latter of which prompted an exodus of Brits returning home before the deadline kicked in.
Portugal was not on the UK’s initial list of air bridges until it was removed from the quarantine list last week.
Portugal welcomed the changes as ‘useful for all those who travel between Portugal and the UK’.
It said the move was ‘proof of the good outcome of intense bilateral work’ and ‘allowed for an understanding that the situation in the country has always been under control’.
Portuguese officials had to send border control reinforcements to airports in Algarve as authorities struggled to cope with the surge in British tourists following the announcement.
The number of passengers arriving from Britain has grown by a whopping 190% since Portugal was removed from the quarantine list, according to the country’s border and immigration service.
The Government has previously said it ‘makes no apologies’ for rapidly removing countries from the safe-travel list.
Boris Johnson said the UK needed to guard itself against a potential second wave of coronavirus starting in Europe.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.