The UK removed Portugal from its COVID-19 quarantine list on Thursday, but said increasing infections elsewhere mean travelers arriving from Croatia, Austria, Trinidad and Tobago will have to quarantine for two weeks.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced the changes on Twitter – the latest in a series of quarantine policy adjustments as the UK tries to prevent new infections from being imported from overseas hotspots.
“Data … shows we can now add Portugal to the countries included in travel corridors,” he said.
Shapps said that the entire UK travel policy is under constant review and can change quickly, warning that people should only travel if they were satisfied with being quarantined in case the rules should change while on vacation.
He emphasized this point and announced that Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago would be added to the quarantine list and that the arriving passengers would have to self-isolate from their arrival from 03:00 GMT for 14 days after their arrival.
Portugal, a popular tourist destination for Brits, has previously expressed its frustration over the UK’s refusal to drop its quarantine requirements, which has hit the tourism-dependent economy hard.
The UK tourism and aviation industries are also badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Other popular holiday destinations in France and Spain are already subject to quarantine in the high season.
The Portuguese Foreign Ministry responded to the decision on Twitter by saying, “It is indeed good news.”
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