Spain on brink of being added to UK’s new amber plus list

SPAIN looks to be on the brink of going on the UK’s amber plus travel list, which would mean double-jabbed Brits having to quarantine

Spain appears to be in danger of being added to the UK government’s new ‘amber plus’ travel list, which means travellers from those destinations still have to quarantine even when they are double-jabbed, according to The Sun.

France has already been put in the amber plus list, after the globally recognised GISAID organisation – which monitors variants of concern – recorded sequenced cases of 3.5 per cent in France, up to July 1, while up to that same date, Spain recorded 162 cases of the variant, with sequenced cases of 8.8 per cent, more than double that of France, which in reality does leave Spain on the brink of going on the list alongside France.

A new amber plus listing would basically mean that Brits who have been vaccinated twice will still have to do the mandatory isolation on return, but can get out with a negative test on day five.

There has been uproar in France over being placed on the amber plus list, with one minister, Clement Beaune, Secretary of State for European affairs, claiming Britain’s decision to place France on the list was not based on any “scientific foundations” over fears of the rise in cases from the Beta variant, but according to Downing Street sources, there has been an increase of five per cent in cases in France.

A spokesman for Boris Johnson reportedly said, “That’s a relatively high prevalence, which potentially poses a risk to the UK, and that’s why it was right to move swiftly”, something which not all Tory MP’s are in agreement with, as Greg Clark, a former cabinet minister, said, “Many travellers, whether for business or for leisure purposes, are going to have their lives disrupted as a result”.

Mr Clark asked Robert Courts, the aviation minister to review his decision as soon as possible, with Mr Courts responding, “I know he’ll understand that the action we have taken is to protect health, which, of course, is the first of duty of any Government in these circumstances. All of this policy is kept under constant review”.

Alec Shelbrooke, another Conservative MP, speaking in the House of Commons said the British public’s confidence in foreign travel is “now in a ditch. The travel agent industry is on its knees and on its last knees”.

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