Filenews 11 May 2021
Most popular European destinations for Britons should be considered safe and included as soon as possible on London's "green" travel list, UK travel industry officials argue.
Countries such as Cyprus, Greece, Spain and France have been placed in the "orange" risk category, which means that there is an obligation of ten days of isolation at home for arrivals in the UK. kingdom.
Tourism bodies, however, cite data from the NHS national health system's testing and tracing programme that appear to confirm that arrivals from Europe do not pose a significant threat to public health in Britain.
According to these data, between 26 March and 22 April fewer than three of the 591 travellers from Cyprus tested positive for coronavirus, an infinitesimal rate.
The corresponding rates for arrivals from Portugal, which are on the green list, were 0.6% and for "orange" Greece 0.8%, Spain 0.7%, France 0.8% and Italy 0.4%. Even lower were the corresponding positivity rates for arrivals from Malta and Croatia.
easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren commented that the UK government's decision to include only 12 countries and territories on the green list for the resumption of international leisure travel on 17 May is not justified.
In addition to the evidence that the transport of cases from Europe is very limited, the progress of vaccinations should mean greater freedom for British travellers.
Greek Tourism Minister Charis Theoharis, who has been meeting in London with British politicians and tourism officials since yesterday, said Greece is "at a very good level" in terms of the pandemic and that things are improving every week.
He noted that the British Government could have taken a different approach to the Greek islands with higher vaccination rates of the population.
Source: Eyenews/CYP
