How quarantine measures for international arrivals in England will change from next week
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Since June 8, all passengers – bar a handful of exemptions – have been required to go into self-isolation for 14 days when they arrive in the UK.
People who fail to comply can be fined £1,000 in England, and police are allowed to use ‘reasonable force’ to make sure they follow the rules.
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Hide AdToday (Friday, July 3), Transport secretary Grant Shapps is expected to announce the lifting of the quarantine policy for passengers arriving in England from countries such as Spain, France, Italy and Germany from next week, with other countries due to form part of this list.
Officials are also set to add exemptions to the Government's policy of advising against all non-essential overseas travel, allowing people to take holidays overseas without their insurance policies being affected.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will set out exemptions for a number of destinations from its global advisory against ‘all but essential’ international travel which will come into force on Saturday.
How will these announcements impact on travel?
The quarantine policy will mean that people either returning to or visiting England from the listed countries will not need to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival.
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Hide AdThe Government has said there is an ‘expectation’ that exempted countries will also not require arrivals from the UK to self-isolate.
Officials will ‘continue to work closely with international partners around the world to discuss arrangements for travellers arriving from the UK,’ the Government added.
Could this advice change?
Exempted countries will be constantly reviewed and self-isolation measures could be reintroduced in future, the Government said.
The current list follows a risk assessment from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England which has looked at the prevalence of Covid-19 and numbers of new cases.
What has the Government said?
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Hide AdMr Shapps said: "Today marks the next step in carefully reopening our great nation.
"Whether you are a holidaymaker ready to travel abroad or a business eager to open your doors again, this is good news for British people and great news for British businesses."