Travel corridors: Quarantine-free travel starts today from 59 countries
The blanket two-week quarantine applying to all travellers arriving into the UK has now been lifted.
From 10 July, inbound arrivals from a number of “travel corridor” countries deemed low-risk are no longer required to self isolate for 14 days.
The Department for Transport (DfT) released a list of 59 approved countries from where those entering England would not have to quarantine, with the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive agreeing to the same arrangement.
Scotland drew up its own list, identical to the DfT’s barring two omissions: Spain and Serbia.
Most countries that were expected to be included in the travel corridors list have made the cut, such as France, Italy and Turkey, while other popular holiday destinations are notably absent, including Portugal.
Meanwhile, Greece is on the list of approved travel corridors, despite the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps telling the BBC’s Today programme that the country wouldn’t be included until there was a reciprocal agreement in place.
“Greece won’t be on the list, in the first place because Greece have said on 15 July, that’s their next review of their own systems, and Greece will be in the reciprocal category,” he said, just hours before the list was published.
The new travel corridors mean those travelling from approved countries into the UK will no longer have to self-isolate unless “they have visited or stopped in any other country or territory in the preceding 14 days.”
Those who have stopped off in a country not on the list will still be required to self-isolate for two weeks when they get to the UK.
All inbound travellers, whether visitors or UK residents, must provide a passenger locator form before their arrival into the country.
The measure is not necessarily reciprocal; for example, although travellers won’t have to self-isolate when returning from New Zealand, there is very little chance of them gaining entry there in the first place.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office released its own list of countries where the blanket warning against all non-essential travel is now lifted. It includes 67 destinations, and does not match the DfT list of quarantine exempt countries – only 48 places can be found across both (46 for Scotland).
Here is the full list of countries exempt from quarantine on arrival into the UK:
Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium
Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Croatia
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominica
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Polynesia
Germany
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Malta
Mauritius
Monaco
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Réunion
San Marino
Serbia [excludes arrivals into Scotland]
Seychelles
South Korea
Spain [excludes arrivals into Scotland]
St Barthélemy
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Pierre and Miquelon
Switzerland
Taiwan
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Vatican City
Vietnam
Ireland is already exempt as part of the common travel area, as are the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The government has said that 14 British Overseas Territories will also be exempt.
The list could still change, as the government website states that countries “may be added to over the coming days following further discussions between the UK and international partners”.
Countries and territories could also be removed from exemption if “conditions worsen”.
