England puts Portugal back on coronavirus quarantine list

LONDON (Reuters) - Portugal, a perennial favourite of British holidaymakers, is back among the countries from which travellers must quarantine when entering England, less than a month after it was put on the safe list.

British transport minister Grant Shapps said on Thursday that anybody arriving in England from Portugal, excluding the Azores and Madeira, after 4 a.m. on Saturday will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

Shapps said the move followed consideration of COVID-19 infections data.

Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion have also been removed from England's safe travel list, but Sweden has been added to it.

Earlier this week, seven Greek islands were added to England's quarantine list.

Britain's constituent nations have different quarantine policies. Portugal was placed on Wales' and Scotland's quarantine lists earlier this month.

(Reporting by Wiliam James and James Davey; editing by Stephen Addison)