Britain to drop quarantine rules for travellers from 75 countries

Britain is to unveil plans for quarantine exemptions for travellers arriving from 75 countries as it relaxes its coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

The list, which is due to be made public later this week, will lift UK government restrictions on virtually all EU countries as well as British territories, the Telegraph reported.

Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and Turkey are also on the list of quarantine exemptions.

Those nations included have been deemed safe on the basis that they have a low number of Covid-19 cases, that their national rate of infection is on the decline and that their statistics on the disease are trustworthy.

Countries such as the United States, Russia and Brazil will reportedly be among those that do not qualify for the exemption and the UK government’s ban on non-essential travel to those places will continue.

The UK had initially pursued an initiative to create air bridges through bilateral negotiations with other nations.

However, this policy seemed to come unstuck on travel to Europe, where people could travel internally to avoid restrictions, and also posed diplomatic headaches for officials.

The quarantine exemptions planned will also not necessarily be mirrored for Britons travelling abroad. New Zealand and Australia – two countries included on the UK list – are to retain border controls and quarantine requirements until the end of 2020.

Fears remain over whether the UAE will be left off the list. More than 1.5 million Britons travel to the Emirates each year.

On Tuesday the EU released a list of 14 countries, including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia that were judged safe for travel. The UAE, the US and China were not included in the initial list.