UK to suspend quarantine rules for passengers from low COVID-19 risk countries

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Photo: IANS)


UK government has decided to ditch a 14-day quarantine period for people arriving from countries it deems to be lower risk for COVID-19.

Official travel advice against all but essential travel outside Britain will also be eased for some countries and regions.

The relaxations are the latest taken by the government to unwind emergency measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, as ministers look to limit the economic damage caused by the virus.

“Our new risk-assessment system will enable us to carefully open a number of safe travel routes around the world,” a government spokeswoman said.

The rules for red-category countries will not change.

The quarantine policy proposed on June 8 people arriving in the country have to go into self-isolation at a designated address for 14 days as a condition of being allowed through frontier posts.

Amid criticism from opposition politicians, Home Secretary Priti Patel insisted that the measure was proportionate and was aimed at preventing COVID-19 being brought into the UK from other countries at a time when coronavirus cases were falling,.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday urged the British public to continue to observe social distancing rules after several police officers suffered injuries as they broke up street parties over the last few days.