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Your support makes all the difference.The government should be more transparent about why it restricts pandemic travel to some countries and not others, Tony Blair’s think tank has said.
A new report calls for “clear and transparent criteria” under which countries could be assessed by, and for the introduction of a “traffic light” system to make it clearer where is safe to visit.
It comes after the government was criticised for the manner in which it reintroduced quarantine restrictions on Spain, at such short notice that even the transport secretary Grant Shapps was caught off guard.
The new report’s authors argue that reforming the way the government deals with quarantine requirements for different countries would give people more confidence to travel to places where it is safe, while protecting public health.
They warn that without a vaccine, all sectors including travel will have to “learn to live” with Covid-19 and make adaptions.
“Travel is responsible for one in ten jobs around the world but quarantine measures risk grinding the industry to a halt,” said Ryan Wain, strategic advisor at the Tony Blair Institute.
“This doesn’t have to be the case. Testing after five days of arrival can reduce quarantine periods in the UK and abroad, while a traffic-light system indicating a country’s ‘Covid status’ would provide welcome foresight for travellers planning their trips.
“Ultimately, this is about learning to live with Covid-19 and wherever possible the government should adopt measures that protect public health but allow some level of normality.”
Under the traffic-light system, countries could be rated green, meaning that travel would be allowed without quarantine requirements and that this situation would be unlikely to change soon, while an amber rating also indicates that unrestricted travel is allowed, but that the situation might change soon. Red-rated countries would have full quarantine requirements in place.
The report also calls for the introduction of testing after five days of quarantine and increased testing at points of entry to the country.
Under the current system, the government publishes a list of countries where travel is allowed without quarantining for 14 days after return.
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