Italy removed from UK quarantine-free list

People arriving in England from Italy, San Marino and Vatican City State will be expected to self-isolate from tomorrow as the nations are removed from the UK quarantine safe list.

Anybody touching down after 04:00 tomorrow will be asked to remain at home for 14-days.

Data has indicated the weekly cases and test positivity are increasing in Italy and so ministers have taken the decision to remove the destinations.

However, the Greek island of Crete has been added to the travel corridor list following a decrease in confirmed cases of coronavirus.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to Italy and San Marino.

The island of Crete is now exempt from the global advisory against non-essential travel.

Penalties for those breaching the self-isolation rules when returning from non-exempt countries have increased from £1,000 for first offence up to £10,000 for subsequent offences.

The decision to remove Italy, in particular, from the safe list has been greeted with dismay in the travel sector as it was one of the free remaining major tourism destinations on offer to British travellers.

An ABTA spokesperson said: “The removal of Italy from the travel corridors list is a major blow for many winter operators in the UK travel industry, and again demonstrates that travel businesses are effectively being forced to close by the government’s measures to control coronavirus – yet, unlike other sectors such as hospitality, travel has received no sector specific support.