Clarity needed on overseas travel 04 June, 2021 01:00
While many people are making plans to spend their summer holidays close to home, there are those still hoping the pandemic situation will improve sufficiently to allow travel abroad.
The decision to place Portugal on the green list for Northern Ireland from May 24 provided some grounds for optimism that other popular destinations including Spain, France and Italy - currently on the amber list - could soon follow.
Those hopes were largely dashed yesterday when it emerged that Portugal is to be removed from the green list and placed on the amber list, effective from Tuesday June 8.
Ibiza s famous beaches appeared eerily quiet this month after the island was placed on the Government s amber list amid growing concern over coronavirus variants.
A key factor in deciding which countries are given the green light for holidays is their infection rate.
In the UK it currently stands at 40 per 100,000 in the past seven days but is much lower in many popular destinations.
Decisions on the Government’s international travel traffic light system are based on assessments by the Joint Biosecurity Centre.
In addition to infection rates, it also takes into account the proportion of the country’s population vaccinated, emerging new variants and access to reliable scientific data combined with genomic sequencing to detect emerging variants.
Ryan Air customers who have booked to travel in July and August will be able to move flights for free for travel until December 31. However, passengers can only switch to the route already booked
Holidaymakers made their way onto the TUI aircraft to Portugal last week Picture: NEWCASTLE AIRPORT Unattributed reports suggested Portugal would go on the amber list after a meeting between the Westminster, devolved governments and the Joint Biosecurity Centre. Under current rules, people returning to the UK from amber list countries must self-isolate at home for 10 days as part of coronavirus restrictions. Meanwhile, seven countries – Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Trinidad and Tobago – have been added to the red list. That means people arriving in the UK from those nations will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 nights.
Portugal to be removed from green travel list amid rising cases Portugal will be added to the amber travel list as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps raised concerns of a new coronavirus mutation and rising cases. The holiday hotspot, including the islands of Madeira and the Azores, will be removed from the green list exempting the need to quarantine on return from 4am on Tuesday. Sri Lanka, Egypt and five other countries will also be added to the red list requiring isolation in a Government-approved hotel, it was announced on Thursday afternoon. Labour criticised the “chaos” as reports about the restrictions dripped out of the Government ahead of official confirmation and travel bosses said the move will cause “untold damage to customer confidence”.