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ISLANDS like the Canaries, Ibiza or Mallorca could be added to safe travel lists in future as the Government explores "regional" quarantines, Grant Shapps suggested this morning.
Just weeks after the islands were added to the quarantine lists due to a large spike in cases in Spain, the Transport Secretary said in future he wanted to be able to look at data for regions, if possible.
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At the time, the inclusion of the islands sparked uproar among tourists as the rates of infection were far below that of mainland Spain.
Today, Mr Shapps raised hopes of a holiday on a Spanish island in the coming months as he said the Government were looking at how to make regional quarantines work.
He told the BBC earlier: "The islands, particularly the Spanish islands, when Spain went into lockdown, we saw in one the numbers coming up and in the other set the numbers coming down - so we do need to be absolutely sure that you're capturing the disease as it actually is and sometimes it's not quite as straightforward as it sounds."
He added: "However, I think there is a case for regionalisation. I think it's harder to do within a country – people say, with France for example, why don't you just do this region and not the other?
"The answer is it's quite easy to travel about the country so we're not able to do it like that."
He said: "Where there are islands, I think it's something we have said before we will look at and we are looking at. It depends on levels of data you have.
"We are looking in to how you can do regionalisation effectively."
The news came after:
- The Government announced people coming back from Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago will have to isolate for two weeks from 4am on Saturday
- The move sparked a scramble for the 20,000 Brits there to get home if they could to avoid the quarantine
- Holiday makers were warned to only travel if they could quarantine when they get back as more countries saw spikes in infections
- But Portugal was taken off the list and Brits can now fly there without having to isolate when they return
- Flights to Portugal rocketed as Brits looked for a getaway
However, on Sky News just minutes earlier he suggested it might be too difficult to do without the right levels of information.
He said: "It's still rather too difficult to do the kind of regionalisation that you're talking about because we just don't have the same control elsewhere."
And any quarantine measures are reviewed weekly, meaning Brits are running out of time to get a holiday in before the end of the summer season.
It leaves no time at all to get a new system up and running based on regional data, if the Government choose to change tack.
However, the Canary Islands at the moment is recording more new infections daily.
Around 200 were reported in the last 24 hours to Friday.
There are a total of 1400 active cases on the islands at the moment, health officials say.
The most are in Grand Canaria, but also a few hundred in Tenerife and Lanzerote.
Mr Shapps has now warned travellers that ANY air bridge could be axed at short notice after three countries were added to the quarantine list on Thursday.
Making reference to his own mad dash home from a holiday in Spain, just hours after arriving, the MP tweeted: “Data shows we need to remove Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago from our list of #coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN.
“If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
“Data also shows we can now add Portugal to those countries INCLUDED in Travel Corridors.
“Only travel if you are content to unexpectedly 14-day quarantine if required (I speak from experience!)”
Brits could quarantine BEFORE they travel to slash time frame down, Grant Shapps suggests
BRITS could quarantine BEFORE they travel to slash time frame down, Grant Shapps has suggested today.
The Transport Secretary said they review the quarantine rules every month and are looking for a system that could cut down how long people have to quarantine for,
He told Sky News: "There's some sort of scientific approach there that prevents full quarantine.
"Either you're going to have to quarantine before you leave to travel somewhere or your'e going to have to quarantine and have tests afterwards."
Mr Shapps said simply testing people on arrival would only catch a very small number of asymptomatic cases and would leave the UK at risk of importing new infections from overseas.
Mr Shapps said today that he accepts it is “incredibly inconvenient” for Brits to rush home from countries recently placed on the red list.
But he told travellers to visit countries abroad with their “eyes open”.
He added: “This is a very unpredictable virus which doesn’t play ball in the way it can take off in a country.
“Anyone traveling this year will know there are risks involved.”
Mr Shapps said that all travel decisions made by the government were looked at “very carefully” and said he “sympathises” with Brits who have spent a fortune on trips abroad.
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Many holidaymakers say the changes to the coronavirus travel rules will cost them as they will not be able to work while stranded in quarantine.
It also means those due to fly there will have to scrap their hols as they know they will be unable to work properly on their return.
Steve Davies, from Yeovil, Somerset, is on holiday in Drasnice, and said quarantining will cost him up to £1,200 in unpaid wages.
"Which is more than the cost of the holiday," said the 50-year-old, who works as a production supervisor for Leonardo helicopters.
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"The announcements are a shambles with little warning to return ... why can't the Government work two weeks ahead on these announcements?
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"I refuse to be panicked and I will not return early: it's safer here than where I am in the UK."
“As with all air bridge countries, please be aware that things can change quickly.
Brits could quarantine BEFORE they travel to slash time frame down, Grant Shapps suggests