The UK government is seriously considering applying quarantine restrictions on arrivals from Belgium, as well as those from Luxembourg, starting as early as Thursday, 30th July. The new measures would come as a response to the surge in contagion cases reported in those countries.
The discussion of the quarantine measures is still ongoing in Whitehall, with Croatia possibly being added to the watch list, the Times reported.
On the weekend of 25th July, the UK government decided to impose quarantine restrictions on travelers arriving from Spain. On Tuesday, 28th July, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that there might be a second wave of COVID-19 in the making across Europe. He went on to add that other countries could be added to the country’s quarantine list.
“We cannot risk importing it again from countries where incidences are rising,” Culture Minister Oliver Dowden told BBC Radio. “That’s why we imposed the restrictions on Spain.”
There has been discontent among citizens regarding the constant changing travel rules and regulations, as well as the reimposition of some form of local lockdown measures in several regions. Some important figures have been critical of some of the decisions being made.
“We are an island nation, we cannot cut ourselves off from the world for the foreseeable future,” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye told the BBC. He went on to clarify that health had to be seen as a top priority, but the economic aspects could not be ignored.
Some experts have suggested, as a compromise, the deployment of testing measures for travelers returning to the UK. The current proposal consists of an initial test at the airport and another one at a health facility days later.
Several aspects of the plan, however, remain uncertain. “It is not the case that testing provides a silver bullet,” Culture Minister Oliver Dowden concluded.
