Yahoo News Covid travel: Spain to escape UK red list
Spain will not move from the amber list to the red list at the next travel review, according to a report.
The country has seen a significant drop in Beta cases, a variant which ministers believe may be more resistant to vaccines.
There are also concerns there are not enough hotel rooms in England to quarantine returning holidaymakers.
Ministers are expected to announce on Thursday that Spain will remain on the amber list.
Government insiders told The Times that the hotel quarantine policy would not be sustainable if Spain was added to the red list.
A Whitehall source said: “Spain won’t be going on the amber watchlist.
“The only danger is it going red but that’s very unlikely.
“Cases are coming down and they haven’t got enough beds to quarantine everybody. So it’s not going to happen.”
A requirement for 10-day self-isolation will be lifted for fully vaccinated Britons returning from France, reports say.
Last month, the country was put on an amber plus list amid concerns about the Beta variant.
However, ministers are said to be backtracking on concerns over the strain which is attributed to a smaller portion of cases in both France and Spain.
As many as 10 countries are expected to be added to the green list during the next international travel review.
These are likely to include Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Ministers decide which country goes on which list once every three weeks, based on analysis from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and the spread of coronavirus and its variants.
The government has abandoned plans to add a sixth category into the fold, as Boris Johnson promised to keep existing travel rules ahead of the next review.
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