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Travel chaos out of our control, insists Govt, as tourists told to have ‘eyes wide open’
Travellers must head overseas ‘with their eyes wide open’, transport secretary Grant Shapps has insisted, as the government made no apology for continuing its abrupt quarantine policy.
Speaking this morning, Shapps said the sudden changes to overseas travel was unavoidable given the ‘unpredictable’ nature of Covid.
He told travellers they must be prepared for disruption if they choose to head abroad.
The minister’s remarks came as three more countries – Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic – were removed from the government’s safe travel list.
People returning from the destinations must quarantine for 14 days if they arrive back in the UK after 4am tomorrow morning.
Shapps said: "Look there is a travel corridor list and I think it contains probably still about 55, 60 countries. It changes every week – a country went on – Cuba went on – the list yesterday.
"So, they are there for a reason. However, when people travel at the moment when coronavirus is still a thing… [they] just need to be aware that unfortunately things can change very quickly and, you know, if you go with your eyes open and you know that things can change, it won’t then come as so much as of a surprise."
Shapps defended the sometimes sudden changes, stressing it was out of the government’s control.
"Jamaica is a very good example of why it’s not always possible [to give more warning]," he said. "A week ago Jamaica had very, very low cases and in the space of a week has gone very high, literally with no notice, no one could have anticipated it.
"I’m afraid it’s just the nature of the virus that it works in unpredictable ways and is way out of our control.
"We must act when we find these things happening."
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