Travellers arriving in the U.K. will have to self-isolate for 14-days from Monday as the country looks to avoid a resurgence of coronavirus cases. Most countries around the world have adopted some form of controls – here are the details:
Mandatory two-week quarantine policies are being used in other countries including Canada, New Zealand and Australia, but these countries are all closed to non citizens and residents.
Meanwhile the U.S. imposed an indefinite travel ban in March, with exemptions for citizens and residents, and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) urges International arrivals to isolate for two weeks on entry.
As countries ease domestic lockdown measures they are looking for ways to reopen borders in time for summer vacations. Many in the U.K. were expecting to be able to holiday across Europe, but the new restriction could mean this is no longer possible.
Read:Travel firms and hotels call for U.K. government to scrap 14-day quarantine plan
The U.K.’s approach has been criticized by the tourism industry for destroying any hope of a return to normalcy for summer vacations. It also comes long after the U.K. entered lockdown in March, with international arrivals as recently as Sunday being welcomed without needing to isolate.
Fines worth £1,000 ($ 1,200) will be used to enforce the rule but Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary claimed the quarantine was “unimplementable” and “un-policeable”.
Ryanair RYA,
New Zealand’s model sees arrivals immediately quarantined in airport hotels paid for by the government. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters on Monday that the country had eliminated domestic transmission of the virus and would relax all lockdown measures except border controls.
Australia’s model also takes people straight from the airports to hotels while in Canada the government only accommodated those who needed assistance to self-isolate.
Read:U.K. imposes 14-day quarantine on all new arrivals
European countries are reported to be planning ‘air bridges’, which would allow travelers to hop between countries quarantine-free as long as both governments agree.
From June 15 flights will be allowed into Greece, with Greek islands opening up to international flights from July 1, and the country will determine whether to exempt people from having to quarantine based on the progression of the virus in their home country.
The U.K. has recorded the second highest death toll from coronavirus after the U.S. and currently has among the highest rate of infections in Europe, which could see it excluded from some travel arrangements. But there is significant variation in the way different countries record their fatalities which make comparisons unreliable.
The U.K. includes fatalities who tested positive for coronavirus whether in hospitals or not, as well as cases where COVID-19 was cited as a contributory factor, or the cause, on the death certificate.
This is more comprehensive than Spain, which has only counted deaths of people tested in hospitals. In Italy, meanwhile, only deaths of people who tested positive are disclosed and this does not always include care homes, and France has also been accused of under reporting.
