Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Travel corridors: Quarantine-free travel starts today from 59 countries

France, Italy and Greece are all on the list of exempt countries

Helen Coffey
Friday 10 July 2020 08:54 BST
Comments
English holidaymakers given green light to travel abroad from Saturday

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The blanket two-week quarantine applying to all travellers arriving into the UK has now been lifted.

From 10 July, inbound arrivals from a number of “travel corridor” countries deemed low-risk are no longer required to self isolate for 14 days.

The Department for Transport (DfT) released a list of 59 approved countries from where those entering England would not have to quarantine, with the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive agreeing to the same arrangement.

Scotland drew up its own list, identical to the DfT’s barring two omissions: Spain and Serbia.

Most countries that were expected to be included in the travel corridors list have made the cut, such as France, Italy and Turkey, while other popular holiday destinations are notably absent, including Portugal.

Meanwhile, Greece is on the list of approved travel corridors, despite the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps telling the BBC’s Today programme that the country wouldn’t be included until there was a reciprocal agreement in place.

“Greece won’t be on the list, in the first place because Greece have said on 15 July, that’s their next review of their own systems, and Greece will be in the reciprocal category,” he said, just hours before the list was published.

The new travel corridors mean those travelling from approved countries into the UK will no longer have to self-isolate unless “they have visited or stopped in any other country or territory in the preceding 14 days.”

Those who have stopped off in a country not on the list will still be required to self-isolate for two weeks when they get to the UK.

All inbound travellers, whether visitors or UK residents, must provide a passenger locator form before their arrival into the country.

The measure is not necessarily reciprocal; for example, although travellers won’t have to self-isolate when returning from New Zealand, there is very little chance of them gaining entry there in the first place.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office released its own list of countries where the blanket warning against all non-essential travel is now lifted. It includes 67 destinations, and does not match the DfT list of quarantine exempt countries – only 48 places can be found across both (46 for Scotland).

Here is the full list of countries exempt from quarantine on arrival into the UK:

  • Andorra
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Aruba
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Belgium
  • Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
  • Croatia
  • Curaçao
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Dominica
  • Faroe Islands
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • France
  • French Polynesia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Greenland
  • Grenada
  • Guadeloupe
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macau
  • Malta
  • Mauritius
  • Monaco
  • Netherlands
  • New Caledonia
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Réunion
  • San Marino
  • Serbia [excludes arrivals into Scotland]
  • Seychelles
  • South Korea
  • Spain [excludes arrivals into Scotland]
  • St Barthélemy
  • St Kitts and Nevis
  • St Lucia
  • St Pierre and Miquelon
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Turkey
  • Vatican City
  • Vietnam

Ireland is already exempt as part of the common travel area, as are the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The government has said that 14 British Overseas Territories will also be exempt.

The list could still change, as the government website states that countries “may be added to over the coming days following further discussions between the UK and international partners”.

Countries and territories could also be removed from exemption if “conditions worsen”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in