Passengers arriving into England from the United States will not be exempted from quarantine rules, Britain’s transport minister Grant Shapps has said.
Asked on Friday whether the United States would be on a ‘red-list’ of countries to which a 14-day quarantine period will apply, Mr Shapps said: “I’m afraid it will be.”
He told the BBC: “The US from a very early stage banned flights from the UK and from Europe so there isn’t a reciprocal arrangement in place”.
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"They have got very high numbers of infections, which is why they are not on the list today," added Mr Schapps.
England is relaxing its quarantine rules for around 50 other countries from 10 July, with people from France, Italy, Germany and Spain exempt from quarantine rules upon arrival in England.
Mr Schapps added that it’s “hard to know” how many Covid-19 cases had been prevented from entering the UK thanks to quarantine rules imposed over the past month on new arrivals.
“We have worked incredibly hard as a country and everyone knows it because they’ve been staying at home and following all this guidance to get on top of this virus”, he told the BBC.
“The chief medical officer made it very clear – the time to bring in a quarantine was when that had happened, when levels had gone done, and then prevent it from coming back again.”
The European Union had announced on Tuesday that it would also exclude the US from a list of countries permitted to enter the bloc this summer.
In contrast to most of Europe, the US has seen more than 2.7 million cases and more than 130,000 deaths from Covid-19, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
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Britain’s foreign office is set to announce the full list of exempt countries posing “a reduced risk” from Covid-19 later on Friday.
Destinations are set to be marked either red, amber or green in accordance with the associated risk from coronavirus.
The UK is also set to ease advice against all but essential travel to the countries listed on Friday.
Mr Schapps added on Friday that restrictions on travellers from Greece would also not be lifted.
"Greece won't be on the list in the first place because Greece have said that on July 15 that's their next review of their own systems," he told the BBC.
"Reciprocity can't come before July 15 for Greece and that is a matter for Greece themselves."
RedRocket13 on July 3rd, 2020 at 12:56 UTC »
Ok but it says they're not banned, they just have to undergo 14-day quarantine like most countries.
"Passengers arriving into England from the United States will not be exempted from quarantine rules, Britain’s transport minister Grant Shapps has said. Asked on Friday whether the United States would be on a ‘red-list’ of countries to which a 14-day quarantine period will apply, Mr Shapps said: “I’m afraid it will be.”
CorgiGal89 on July 3rd, 2020 at 12:30 UTC »
Wait, is the title really misleading or is it too early in the morning for me? Because in the article it says the US will be placed on a list that requires people to quarantine for 14 days upon entering the country which is not the same thing as a travel ban.
forgotmyusername2x on July 3rd, 2020 at 10:47 UTC »
Donald Trump, interesting.. the guy is so consumed with his base that he forgot that he loves money and the stock market more than people. He sold out our entire economy to please his base, a group of people who honestly make him sick. Imagine if he took the other path? Imagine if he came down hard on the virus, whipped up nationalism against China, used stimulus to build American factories and subsidize companies to not manufacture in China. He could have used it as an excuse to completely close our borders, sold a bunch of maga masks and crushed the virus? That psycho would be getting a second term. The economy with the stimulus would be through the roof! This guy is the biggest idiot of all time!