UK drops 14-day quarantine, launches traffic light system for holiday-makers

Residents from a new shortlist of countries would be allowed to enter the UK and Europe sooner than expected, including Aussies when our borders reopen.

Australia has made it onto a list of countries that will be part of a new “travel corridor” that will allow residents to travel to Europe and the UK without having to quarantine on arrival.

Representatives of the 27 member states of the European Union released a list of 15 “green light” countries whose residents will be allowed to enter from July 1.

In a written statement, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the British Government will “shortly begin to ease the health measures at the UK border” that will allow passengers to be “exempted from self isolation requirements” depending on where they travel from.

My Statement to Parliament on exempting passengers from self-isolation requirements in certain circumstances (i.e. International Travel Corridors or Air Corridors) on arrival in the UK. pic.twitter.com/ef6fgewfGO

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) June 29, 2020

The UK Government will outline later this week which countries will be on the safe list, but the list essentially means people won’t have to stay home for 14 days when they arrive in the UK.

Unfortunately Australians are banned by the Federal Government from travelling abroad, with all residents requiring an exception from the Department of Home Affairs to leave the country.

So despite being a likely addition to the travel list, residents will likely not be able to enjoy a European holiday this year.

The air bridges – also known as travel corridors – will reportedly be set up between countries with lower levels of infection in a bid to boost tourism. The initial shortlist includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

The rules will apply to anyone coming in via plane, rail or boat, with the countries included on the list updated every two weeks.

According to The Sun, a traffic light system will be set up to show people whether the place they are returning from is safe enough they don’t have to isolate.

The traffic light system shows which countries will likely be allowed in to parts of Europe.

People coming back from green or amber countries will be exempt from quarantine, however, anyone coming in from a “red” alert country will still have to quarantine.

The US, Russia, Brazil and India, where infection rates remain high, are set to remain excluded from the list according to The Guardian.

For a country to make the list, they were selected on the basis of the reliability of their data, infection rates and reciprocity.

Australia has been included in a new European travel shortlist.

A key mark to meet was the average infection rate. The Guardian reports countries had to be comparable or better than the EU average infection rate, which sits at around 16 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.