Spain Could Be Placed On UK Travel Red List As Covid Cases Soar
Spain News
Published: 04 February 2021 14:04 CET
Updated: 17 February 2021 14:04 CET
Spain could be added to the UK’s travel list of high-risk countries today, following a recent spike in Covid cases a travel expert has warned.
It comes as the country's daily rate of Covid cases has rocketed from around 10,000 new daily infections to almost 35,000 earlier this week.
If Spain is added to the list, all travel to the country will be banned, however, Spanish citizens and British nationals living in Spain would be exempt from the restrictions.
Passengers arriving from Spain may also be forced to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days on their arrival into the UK at the cost of around £1,600 per person. It is rumoured that the new quarantine measures could be announced as soon as February 15.
Anyone arriving in the UK will also need to provide a negative Coronavirus test which must be taken no more than 72 hours prior to travel. A passenger locator form must also be submitted.
The UK currently has 33 countries on its list of destinations where travel is banned. This includes Portugal, South America and the UAE, a popular destination for the internet’s celebrity ‘influencers’.
South Africa and Brazil were recently added to Spain’s own list of high-risk countries following the discovery of new more potent variants of the virus, which are thought to be more transmissible.
The restrictions for South Africa and Brazil came into force at 9 am on Wednesday, and will be in effect until 9 am on February 17, although there is the possibility that this will be extended.
Spain also banned travellers from the UK in recent weeks with the ban currently set to end on February 16.
Travel expert Paul Charles of The PC Agency believes Spain could well be the next to be added to the UK’s red list.
He told The Sun Online Travel, "I think there is a high probability that Spain will be added to the list.
"Its infection rates have shot up in the past few days.
"Over the last month, it's been seeing 30,000 new cases a day, whereas a month ago it was seeing 10,000 a day. It's quite clear that it is seeing variants emerge as well.
"It could be coming across the border from Portugal - last Sunday the borders were effectively closed between them due to the rising cases.
"There is a large rise as well in mortalities. A month ago Spain was seeing 140 deaths a day due to Covid, whereas now it's 400 a day. It's seen a 300 per cent increase."
It comes as 565 more deaths were registered by Spain’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to more than 60,000, with more than 2.8 million cases since the start of the pandemic.
The country’s vaccination program also continues to gather momentum with 1,673,054 people now vaccinated against the virus.
Source
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/spain-brink-covid-travel-quarantine-19761633
https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/13935344/spain-travel-ban-flights-coronavirus-quarantine/
