All visitors arriving in England from Thailand and Singapore will no-longer require to quarantine or self-isolate for 2 weeks as both the countries have been added to England’s safe travel list. Thailand and Singapore were added to the list of travel corridors for England after being assessed by Joint Biosecurity Centre that declared that the countries have a lower virus infection risk at present.
Data from Public Health England was also analysed before undertaking the decision and a significant change in both the level and pace of active COVID-19 cases in both destinations were reported. The countries have already been exempted from the Foreign & Commonwealth Officer global advisory against all “non-essential travel”.
However, all travelers including the ones from exempt destinations, will still be required to show a complete passenger locator form on arrival into the UK unless they fall into a small group of exemptions. Border Force has been asked to carry out spot checks, and travellers who refuse to provide their contact details, is likely to face a fine.
On the other hand, Slovenia and Guadeloupe have both been removed from list of travel corridors for England and has been recently added to the quarantine list following data that showed a significant increase in confirmed cases. It has been reported that the weekly count per 100,000 has increased from 14 on September 9 to 29 on September 16, resulting in a total of 102% increase ultimately making the country unsafe.
A sharp increase in the weekly COVID-19 infection rate has also been noticed in Guadeloupe over the past four weeks, with a 558% increase in weekly cases per 100,000 between August 25 and September 15. Therefore, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice and suggested against all but essential travel to Slovenia and Guadeloupe.
The England government has constantly made it clear that it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the spread of the deadly virus, including removing countries from the travel corridors list rapidly if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high. The government has also urged travellers to check the latest advice from the FCDO before travelling as well as requested employers to be understanding of those returning from these destinations and will need to self-isolate.
Tags: Coronavirus, Covid-19, England, Guadeloupe, Singapore, Slovenia, Thailand
