Concern among those looking to get away for a summer break grows as the UK government warns that they will not hesitate to add more countries to its travel quarantine list.
The news comes as several countries on the government’s ‘corridor list’ have been removed due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, and arrivals from those destinations have been told to self-isolate up their return.
What does the removal of a country from the travel corridor list mean?
Anyone arriving in the UK from a country that is not on the travel corridor list will need to isolate for 14-days on their arrival. This applies to all travel to the UK, including by train, ferry, coach, air, or any other route.
Anyone who travels to a country, not on the travel corridor list, will also risk invalidating their travel insurance policy should they choose to travel after the country has been removed from the list. This is because removal from the safe list also means that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) recommends against any non-essential travel to those countries too.
So, which countries are on the travel corridor list?
There are currently 74 countries on the government’s corridor list that British tourists can visit without having to isolate on their return.
Countries are frequently added and removed, depending on the risk to British nationals. You can find out more about the countries you can travel to here.
Which countries have been removed from the travel corridor list?
At the time of writing, since the government announced the list of countries and territories which British nationals can travel to, five countries have been removed due to a spike in Covid-19 infection rates.
Spain was the first country to be removed from the list, followed shortly by Luxembourg.
Andorra, the Bahamas, and Belgium are the most recent countries to become exempt from the list.
However, Britons should expect more announcements to follow as the world battles a potential second wave of the virus. You can find which countries have been removed from the corridor list here.
Which countries are the government currently monitoring?
The government is keeping a close eye on the number of Covid-19 cases in France as there have been reports of an increase in confirmed cases.
Malta and the Czech Republic are also on the ‘watch list’ as both have seen cases rise above 25 per 100,000 in the last two weeks.
Keep up to date with the latest guidance and restrictions here.
We would recommend that anyone with an upcoming trip abroad keeps up-to-date with the latest FCO advice for the country they are visiting.
Those with concerns over the validity of their travel insurance should the FCO advise against travelling to the country are visiting while they are out there can find out more here.
