By Tony Winterburn • Published: 14 Aug 2020 • 8:03
Britain adds France to its quarantine list. image: Twitter
The UK government has announced it will reimpose quarantine for travellers from France and the Netherlands starting from 4.0am BST on Saturday morning.
THE UK government decided on the quarantine, which will most likely spark a mass exodus among the estimated half a million British holidaymakers currently in France, after a surge in coronavirus cases there.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the measure will also apply to people travelling from Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba.
“Data shows we need to remove France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks & Caicos & Aruba from our list of coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN,” transport minister Grant Shapps wrote on Twitter.
“If you arrive in the UK after 04.00 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.” Airlines UK described it as “another devastating blow to the travel industry already reeling from the worst crisis in its history.”
The French junior minister for European affairs Clement Beaune said that it was “a British decision we regret and which will lead to a reciprocal measure.” France “hoped for a return to normal as soon as possible,” Beaune said on Twitter.
Half a million Brits now face a desperate dash to get home to the UK. Travellers trying to book the train back have complained that the Eurotunnel website is struggling to deal with the volume of inquiries and keeps slowing right down to a halt sometimes, making it almost impossible to book a place on the train.
The director of public affairs at Getlink, John Keefe, said that the trains were “already pretty much fully booked” on Friday. He went on to say: “We just haven’t got the space to take everybody who might suddenly want to come up to the coast.”
Keefe urged travellers to check online if there is space for them before heading to the terminal, he said people should understand “that it’s not going to be easy to get back” to the UK. Another 500,000 Brits due to travel to France in the coming weeks will have their holiday plans thrown into turmoil.
Some passengers complained that a British Airways flight from Paris France to Heathrow suddenly quadrupled in price on the news of the quarantine.
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