This weekend three more countries have been added to the UK quarantine list. From 04:00 BST (03:00 UTC) on Saturday morning, travelers coming from Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Jamaica will need to self-isolate on arrival in the UK.
Three more countries on the quarantine list
The UK’s polemic quarantine list is an ever-changing document of air travel freedom. The government updates it on the advice of the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), which helps it to decide which countries are no longer safe to travel to.
This week, three more countries were taken off the safe travel corridors list. These were:
- Croatia;
- Czech Republic; and
- Jamaica.
The new rules came into effect in the early hours of Saturday, August 29th. Any passengers arriving into the UK after this cut off point will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
According to the UK government, self-isolation must be carried out as soon as a traveler arrives at a UK airport. The passenger should proceed directly to their destination, avoiding public transport, if possible. Once in isolation, they should not leave there home or have people visit unless under exceptional circumstances.
Why were these three countries added to the list?
Several factors define whether a country is safe to visit with regards to COVID-19. The primary indicator is the number of cases in a proportion of the population. The UK government and JBC suggest that any country with 20 or more cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people over seven days should be removed from the travel corridor.
However, even if a country does not achieve that proportion, it could still be removed with consideration to the following factors:
- testing capacity in-country;
- transmission level in the community; or
- trends in cases and deaths.
On August 27th, Switzerland had 22 cases per 100,000, which was an increase of 19% on the week before. The Czech Republic has had a 25% spike in cases over the past three weeks, while in Jamaica, a 382% increase has been recorded in a single week. On August 20th, its figures were 4.3 cases per 100,000. That’s now 20.8 cases per 100,000.
Is this system working?
After the debacle surrounding Spain’s removal from the safe travel list, it seems that UK citizens are keeping a close eye on travel destinations that could change status at any point. While the system, in theory, is effective at keeping the rate of infection low within the UK, putting it into practice is a lot more complicated.Â
As borders have opened, some have taken the chance to go abroad for a much-needed summer vacation. However, those have had to be cut short with the imposition of quarantine rules.
Yet, more than holidaymakers, the decisions are also affecting airlines. Despite the developments in the quarantine list, some airlines continue to operate to these destinations as usual.
British Airways previously retained its flights to France, the Netherlands and Malta when they were struck off the list a few weeks ago. The worry is that countries could be removed from the list only to be added again as their cases go down. This was the case with Portugal and Cuba, which are now deemed safe countries to visit.
If airlines leave open bookings on these routes, they can collect revenue from the hopefuls that buy their tickets in advance. What’s more, essential travel to these countries can still be completed, and so it’s convenient if some airlines still fly to these off-the-list destinations.
What do you think? Is there a better way to define the quarantine list? Have you had to isolate after a recent holiday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.Â
