UK warns that all holidays for 2021 could be canceled

UK warns that all holidays for 2021 could be canceled

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(CNN) – The discussion of any form of summer escape became an even bigger gamble for millions of British people on Wednesday, as the government warned that even residence permits could be threatened until the vaccinations are completed.

After officials previously hinted that a foreign trip during 2021 may not be possible, British Transport Minister Grant Shapps says that even a break on own soil could now be out of the question.

The news comes after the country’s health minister, Matt Hancock, announced that arrivals to the UK who are lying to visit a destination on his Covid “red list” could face up to ten years in prison or a £ 10,000 fine ( $ 13,800) can get.

“Until we know the route outside the closure, which we can not know until we have more information, more information about vaccines, please do not go on holiday,” Shapps said early in a BBC interview early Wednesday.

He said it was too early to paint a clear picture of the constraints there would be during the summer, and advised travelers to sit tight and ‘do nothing’ until things became clearer.

The warning will be a disappointment to many holidaymakers in the UK, who hoped the country’s rapid vaccination against coronavirus would pave the way for holidays abroad later this year.

However, Shapps stressed that the UK, which has administered more than 13 million Covid-19 jabs, will have to wait until other destinations ‘catch up’.

Tough penalties

From 15 February, UK and Irish residents arriving on the UK’s red list ‘, which includes South Africa, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates and most of South America, will receive a “quarantine package” “for £ 1,750 ($ 2,400,) this includes accommodation in an approved hotel, transport to the accommodation and testing of Covid-19.

All other travelers who visited these countries 10 days before traveling to the UK, which is currently under a third national exclusion, are prohibited from entering

Those who do not meet the quarantine requirements or want to disguise the fact that they have visited a high-risk country can face up to ten years in prison or a fine.

“I do not apologize for the strength of these measures, because we are facing one of the biggest threats to our public health that we as a nation have faced,” Hancock told lawmakers in the House of Representatives. the British Parliament said.

Passengers arriving from destinations that are not on the “red list” must pass a negative test within 72 hours of their departure.

In addition, they must also be separated for ten days and do a Covid-19 test on the second and eighth day after their arrival.

However, the “release scheme test”, which allows travelers to leave isolation if they receive a negative test on the five days of quarantine, still applies to those arriving from destinations that are not on the “red list”.

Anyone wishing to arrive in the UK from Monday should book the new tests on arrival via an online portal before traveling.

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