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Industry awaits Portugal verdict amid claims ‘quarantine has proved its worth’
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the UK’s quarantine policy has ‘proved its worth’ in comments that will incense the travel industry.
Speaking on Sky News, Hancock refused to be drawn on whether Portugal will be removed from the safe travel list but warned that ‘swift decisions’ will continue to be necessary.
Asked directly whether thousands of British holidaymakers would again face a dash back from Portugal, Hancock said the UK quarantine list is kept under constant review.
While recent announcements concerning travel corridors have come late on a Thursday, Hancock said a decision will be made public tomorrow.
"We follow the data and we make these announcements in an organised way on a Friday lunchtime," Hancock said.
"We are going to publish a further decision tomorrow having looked at the data and I’m not going to pre-judge that."
But it will be his praise of quarantine measures that will antagonise an already livid industry.
Questioned further about the policy, the health secretary said: "It does mean sometimes we have to make some swift decisions when we introduce quarantine in a country where the case rate is shooting up – but we do it to protect this country.
"So people should look at the data and only travel if they are prepared to quarantine – if the virus goes up when they are in that country.
"I think the quarantine policy has proved its worth."
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