The government in London surprisingly announced on Friday that the easing planned for Monday should not apply to France. Returning travelers who have been vaccinated twice must therefore continue to be quarantined in England for ten days if they were previously in France. The reason is therefore the relatively high number of infections with the beta variant of the coronavirus, which was first detected in South Africa.
The head of the airline association Airlines UK, Tim Alderslade, described the government’s decision as “arbitrary”. It is impossible for travelers and the industry to make plans, he said, according to the BBC. This will further undermine consumer confidence, said Alderslade. Easy-Jet managing director Johan Lundgren accused the government of creating “confusion and uncertainty”.
The UK government has introduced a traffic light system for trips abroad. However, the exact criteria for this are not comprehensible. There are only a few, mostly small, countries on the green list, which are not subject to mandatory quarantine. Most of the countries in Europe, including Germany, are on a yellow list for which self-isolation is mandatory. The government recently announced that from Monday this obligation would no longer apply to those who were fully vaccinated in the UK. However, France is now exempt from this easing.
In Great Britain itself, the infection rate is currently rising rapidly. Nevertheless, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to lift most of the corona measures in most of England next Monday. The parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland determine themselves about Corona measures and rules for travel.