Skift Take
Britons, excited for a summer season vacation, raced to book travel to Portugal when that nation resumed. However the UK included Portugal to its more-restrictive travel tier, triggering a mad response from Portugal’s prime minister.
Madhu Unnikrishnan
Portugal’s prime minister slammed Britain on Sunday for removing his country from a COVID-19 quarantine-free travel list, and prompted London to abide by a European digital certificate plan to reduce travel.
Britain said last week it was removing Portugal from its “green list” of nations that do not need quarantine on return because of increasing COVID-19 case numbers and the risk presented by coronavirus variations detected in Portugal.
Portugal had actually been placed on the “green list” simply weeks earlier. However from 0400 GMT on Tuesday, Britons returning from Portugal will require to quarantine for 10 days and take 2 COVID-19 tests.
“We can’t have this system of instability and changes every 3 weeks,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa told press reporters. “It isn’t good for those who prepare their holidays, nor for those who need to organise the tourism market to receive travelers in great conditions.”
He said Portugal was preserving dialogue with the British government to “explain the decision is not warranted and also the severe damage it triggers to the British and to the Portuguese economy.”
Costa stated “a good way for the British to discover an option to this circumstance” would be to abide by a system of digital certificates which the European Union plans to introduce from July 1.
Under this plan, EU citizens who can show they have been immunized versus COVID-19, evaluated negative for the illness or recuperated from it will have the ability to take a trip freely in the EU.
Britain, nevertheless, has left the EU. Costa did not explain how it might stick to the plan.
New coronavirus cases have increased slightly in Portugal because it began lifting lockdown restrictions last month.
Hospitalizations are low and everyday deaths are near no following the vaccination of nearly all its most susceptible senior people.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
This post was written by Sergio Goncalves from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Market Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing concerns to [email secured]