Holidays nightmare as NO countries are added to UK’s ‘green list’

Holidaymakers suffered a hammer blow today as Portugal was removed from the UK’s green list, with Grant Shapps citing fears over the spread of the new Nepal variant.

In a brutal overhaul, the only major tourist destination in the lowest bracket is being axed from 4am Tuesday – with sources suggesting the new strain identified in the country was a significant factor in the decision.

No countries are being added to the ‘green list’, dashing hopes that places such as Malta, Jamaica and Grenada could be added to the roster thanks to easing Covid rates.

And more countries are being put on the ‘red list’ that means returning travellers must go into quarantine hotels. They are Egypt, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Bahrain, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago and Afghanistan. 

Transport Secretary Mr Shapps said there had been a rise in test positivity in Portugal, and also pointed to the danger that the coronavirus variant linked to Nepal could pose a fresh threat to the escape from lockdown.

‘I want to be straight with people, it’s actually a difficult decision to make, but in the end we’ve seen two things really which caused concern,’ he said.

‘One is the positivity rate has nearly doubled since the last review in Portugal and the other is there’s a sort of Nepal mutation of the so-called Indian variant which has been detected and we just don’t know the potential for that to be a vaccine-defeating mutation, and simply don’t want to take the risk as we come up to June 21 and the review of the fourth stage of the unlock.’

At least 20 cases of the strain, which combines mutations from the Indian and South African versions, have been spotted in the UK. And a case has been identified in Portugal – which does far less genomic screening than Britain.

The decision sparked fury from the travel industry, while Portuguese government branded it ‘illogical’ and the MP for the Algarve Cristóvão Norte said it was ‘unfair’ and ‘overly cautious’. 

Meanwhile, Labour has renewed demands for the ‘amber list’ to be scrapped to prevent mutant strains from being imported.

And in another setback for travellers the EU has again delayed a decision on whether the UK will be added to its ‘white list’ of safe countries from which leisure travel is welcome.  

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye reacted with fury this afternoon, saying: ‘Ministers spent last month hailing the restart of international travel, only to close it down three weeks later all but guaranteeing another lost summer for the travel sector.

‘Everyone wants to protect public health, but the entire point of the Global Travel Taskforce was to establish a system to unlock low-risk travel safely.

‘Britain is the worst performing economy in the G7, and in the week that the Prime Minister hosts G7 leaders to launch his Government’s vision of Global Britain, he’s sending a message that the UK will remain isolated from the rest of the world and closed to most of its G7 partners.

‘If the Government is serious about protecting UK jobs and supporting businesses across the country, rapid action is needed to reopen flights to key trading partners, remove testing for vaccinated passengers from ‘green’ countries, and slash the cost and complexity of testing, as other G7 countries are doing.’

The Government said the decision to move Portugal to the amber list followed an ‘almost doubling’ in the country’s coronavirus test positivity rate and the discovery of 68 cases of the Indian variant including some with a mutation previously seen in Nepal.

Public Health England is investigating both the Indian variant and the mutation ‘to better understand whether it could be more transmissible and less effectively tackled by vaccines’. 

Mr Shapps said ‘decisive action’ will help ‘make sure that we can do a domestic unlock’.

‘We would expect in the ordinary course of events for there to be now a three-week period, obviously subject to if something dramatic comes up we would of course need to make changes elsewhere and we will have to reserve the right to do that to protect the population at home.

‘Look, 67million people have been through a lot this last year and a half, but a lot of people have come forward for their jabs in incredible numbers.

‘No one wants the government to fail to take decisive action to protect that as we look towards this fourth unlock, and we want to give ourselves the best possible chance when we get to that unlock and not have factors from outside – for example potentially vaccine defeating mutation – preventing us from being able to give ourselves the best chance of unlocking domestically.’

Mr Shapps said the UK had ‘done wonders with our vaccination programme and the rest of the world will catch up’.

‘Europe is probably 10 weeks behind but they will catch up and I don’t know exactly what that will mean in terms of the summer but the decisive action today is designed to protect the future, to make sure that we can do a domestic unlock or give ourselves the best possible chance of doing so and that will also help us to unlock international travel given time,’ he added.

‘So we’re not in the same place as last year, we’ve got the vaccination programme, we do need to check though that the vaccine can work against all the kinds of mutations that we’re seeing and so we’re having to take a safety first attitude when it comes to those mutations becoming apparent.’

With Portugal facing a shift to the amber list after ministers meet today, people returning from the country will have to self-isolate for 10 days as well as paying for coronavirus tests.

The change will probably take effect from June 7 – although it could be earlier. 

It will be a huge kick in the teeth to Britons who have already booked a holiday in hot spots such as the Algarve, believing they will be able to return quarantine free.

And it will also be another damaging blow to the already struggling travel industry, which had hoped for more countries to be added to the green list this month. 

Yesterday Portugal saw its highest daily number of cases since March. And the country currently has a case rate of around 37 infections per 100,000 people – higher than the UK’s rate of 34.5.

The final decisions were based on an assessment from the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC).

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the priority was ‘keeping the country safe’. 

‘We have got to follow the data and of course, I understand why people want to travel but we’ve got to make sure we keep this country safe, especially because the vaccine programme is going so well,’ he told reporters at a G7 gathering in Oxford this morning. 

‘We have seen hospitalisations and deaths come right down and we have to got to protect the progress we have made here at home, whilst allowing for travel where it is safe.

‘You have got to follow the data.’ 

Mr Johnson hinted at a hard line when he was asked about expanding the green list yesterday, and said: ‘We’re going to try to allow people to travel, as I know that many people want to, but we’ve got to be cautious and we’ve got to continue to put countries on the red list, on the amber list, when that is necessary.

‘I want you to know we will have no hesitation in moving countries from the green list to the amber list to the red list, if we have to do so. 

‘The priority is to continue the vaccination rollout, to protect the people of this country.’

In the past, holiday-makers have normally been given days – and sometimes up to a week – to return to the UK from countries where travel restrictions have been changed.

The government has ignored pressure for other countries such as Malta to be added to the green list.

The Mediterranean island, a popular destination for British tourists, is currently on the amber list, but has high vaccination levels and low infections.

The Cayman Islands, Grenada, British Virgin Islands, Finland and some Caribbean islands were also among those being floated for the green list. 

Cyprus’ deputy tourism minister yesterday said the country ‘absolutely deserves’ to be in the loosest category. 

After today, the green list – which currently contains 12 countries – will not be reviewed until the week running up to June 28. 

That means it will be July before there is another chance for more destinations to make it on to the list. 

Travel industry experts have suggested that case levels are low enough to move countries down.

However, Spain and Greece, which are two of the most popular tourist destinations of British holiday-makers, look doomed to remain on the amber list for another month at least. 

Meanwhile, Bahrain, Costa Rica and Vietnam are among the countries that could be moved up to the red list.

While amber arrivals are required to self-isolate for 10 days, and complete two PCR tests, arrivals from red list countries must stay in a quarantine hotel once landing in the UK – at the cost of £1,750 per person. 

Portuguese MP Mr Norte told LBC Radio it was an ‘unfair decision’ that has ‘no basis’. 

‘I respect it but I think they have an overly cautious approach. Portugal has taken all the measures and the results show it,’ he said. 

Andrew Flintham, manging director for Tui UK, said: ‘This latest announcement is another step back for our industry.

‘After promises that the Global Travel Taskforce would result in a clear framework, removing the damaging flip-flopping we all endured last summer, the Government decision to move Portugal straight from green to amber will do untold damage to customer confidence.

‘We were reassured that a green watch list would be created and a week’s notice would be given so travellers wouldn’t have to rush back home. They have failed on this promise.

‘Unlike other European countries and despite multiple requests, the Government has refused to be transparent about the data requirements for green, amber and red destinations.

‘We must see the methodology so we can help our customers and plan our operations accordingly. There are destinations around the world with little or no Covid-19 cases and good vaccination rates, so we need to understand why these remain on the amber list.’

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: ‘This shock decision to add Portugal to the amber list is a huge blow to those who are currently in Portugal and those who have booked to be reunited with loved ones, or take a well-deserved break this summer.

‘With Portuguese rates similar to those in the UK it simply isn’t justified by the science.

‘And to add no more countries to the green list when most of Europe’s infection rates are on a downward trend and many places with low infection rates below that of the UK, such as the Balearics with a current rate of 33 in 100,000 and Malta, with just 12 in 100,000, this makes no sense.

‘Especially when domestic travel is allowed within the UK, despite a number of cities having infection rates 20 times greater than much of Europe.’

Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency, suggested the government was motivated by ‘political’ considerations rather than public health. 

On the decision not to add any more countries to the green travel list he said: ‘I think it’s a terrible decision that threatens jobs and recovery in the travel sector.

‘It shows little awareness of the safe destinations globally and is at odds with how citizens from other countries such as America are travelling.

‘Those British citizens who have been fully jabbed should be given more flexibility to travel to a wider range of green destinations.

‘They are basically putting at risk tens of thousands of jobs across aviation and the travel sector, and not showing any signs of helping the sector to recover.

‘They seem to want to continue to create an atmosphere of fear among travellers, which is totally at odds with other countries.

‘There are several countries which meet the criteria to be on the green list so this is clearly a politically charged decision rather than one based on data.’

Experts say the coronavirus variant being linked to Nepal could have been spread by climbers travelling home from Mount Everest.

As many as 13 passengers flying from Nepal to Japan were infected with the new mutant strain that combines mutations from the Indian and South African variants. 

At least 20 cases have been spotted in the UK, with the strain first spotted on April 24 according to surveillance data. Cases were also detected in the US, India and Portugal. 

Its mutations mean scientists fear it could be more infectious, and more resistant to vaccines. 

Mr Hancock said yesterday Britain is preparing to buy millions of tweaked doses of the AstraZeneca jab that target the South African variant.

SAGE scientists think it makes jabs at least 30 per cent less effective against infections, but its impact on severe disease is not known.

Ministers sparked surge testing in postcode areas where the strain was detected, to root out every last case.

Only one case of the variant has been recorded in Nepal so far, but the country carries out very little surveillance for mutant strains. 

The UK has placed Nepal and India on its ‘red’ list, and the US is on its ‘amber’ list. 

The Nepal strain is a mutated version of the Indian variant currently dominant in the UK — B.1.617.2 — but also carries the K417N mutation spotted on the South African variant — B.1.351 — which scientists say could make jabs less effective. 

The new mutant strain has been named Delta+K417N.

Nepal faced its second wave of the pandemic in May, driven by imports of the Indian variant after it kept its borders open.

There have been several Covid outbreaks in camps at Mount Everest, with more than 100 people reported infected at a base camp in May. 

Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Reading University, told MailOnline it was ‘entirely possible’ the mutant strain was being spread by travellers. 

‘Anywhere travellers go is a likely source of transmission across the world,’ he said. ‘It seems to me that the Himalayan region is for Nepal is a tourism hotspot.’  

Before the news emerged Robert Boyle, former director of strategy at British Airways’ parent company IAG, said a number of summer hotspots could be added to the green tier if islands were considered separately.

He wrote in a blog post: ‘It still seems very likely that whilst Spain and Greece will not make it onto the green list, many of their islands will, due to lower case rates and higher vaccinations than on the mainland.’

Mr Boyle added: ‘Malta, Finland and Slovakia are fairly safe bets, based on high testing rates and low reported cases.’

Portugal is the only viable major tourist destination currently on the green list, but there have been reports it could be downgraded to amber.

The Government has urged people to avoid non-essential travel to amber and red countries.

Travellers returning from amber list locations – which include popular hotspots such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece – must quarantine at home for 10 days and take two post-arrival tests.

Several additions to the red list are expected today. 

People returning to the UK from a red country are required to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel, at a cost of £1,750 for solo travellers.

Assessments of travel lists are based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a population that has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants, and access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said the public should ‘exercise their common sense’ about travelling abroad.

She told Times Radio: ‘We all want to get back to normality, pre-pandemic normality.

‘But I think (we) all understand we’ve got to take careful steps to do that.’

Yesterday Cyprus’ deputy tourism minister said the country ‘absolutely deserved’ be put on the UK’s travel green list.

Savvas Perdios told the Telegraph: ‘Cyprus absolutely deserves to be green-listed.

‘We have made a lot of progress, especially over the last month.’

The country’s current Covid infection rate sits at 36.95 per 100,000 people – on par with green-listed Portugal (35.58) and the UK (34.5).

Yesterday, the country, which went into a short two-week firebreaker lockdown in May, reported just 58 new daily cases.

And Mr Perdios said around half of the country’s 875,000 population has been vaccinated so far.

It comes as the Mail today revealed how foreign holidays are under threat because ministers are worried about a new Covid variant.

Scientists have alerted ministers to the mutant strain – thought to have originated in Nepal – which has apparently spread to Europe. They fear the strain is resistant to vaccines.

But a member of the Government’s SAGE committee of experts said officials should not be overly concerned. He added: ‘There are thousands of variants. This is a virus that is changing all the time.’ 

And Tory peer Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, chairman of the Airport Operators’ Association, said: ‘How many more variants have we got to be worried about? What matters is data and the success of our vaccination programme.’

The developments are a huge blow for the travel industry, which has been brought to its knees by the pandemic.

Industry leaders and MPs have warned that more than a million jobs are at risk if most of the summer season is lost, with billions more wiped from the UK economy. 

Last night, even government advisers said the UK could not keep panicking every time a new variant emerges. Professor Sir John Bell said ministers should avoid ‘scampering down a rabbit hole’ when new strains are detected, and instead focus on hospitalisations, serious disease and deaths. 

Last night, MPs and industry expressed alarm at the prospect of foreign summer holidays slipping away. 

Tory MP Henry Smith, chairman of the all-party Future of Aviation group of MPs, and whose constituency includes Gatwick, said: ‘After a devastating year for our aviation, travel and tourism industries, this will come as a hammer blow to an industry that is close to breaking point.

‘Far from benefiting from a vaccine dividend, this reinforces that our overly cautious approach to international travel is a restart in name only.

‘We must ensure that we avoid a summer shutdown that will cause irreversible damage to businesses and communities who rely on international travel.’ 

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the ‘amber list has to be scrapped because of the huge confusion it is creating and the number of travellers who are now coming through our airports’.

‘The government has made a complete hash of this frankly…

‘What we need to do is yes have that small green list, we totally understand that people do want that hope of going on holiday abroad, but put the amber list countries into the red list and let’s have a comprehensive hotel quarantining system because keeping our variants is absolutely critical.’

He added: ‘We have to get our Covid border protections right.’

Mr Thomas-Symonds said that the green list should be built up ‘slowly and safely’ while tough restrictions are in place on other countries.

‘I’m not saying that the green list needs to be closed. In fact the way to build a safe green list of countries is to have the other countries with very strict border controls against Covid,’ he added.

Brussels recommends that member states lift travel restrictions on people coming from countries on its ‘white list’ – although member states are not obliged to follow the guidance and many do not.

Currently the list includes Israel, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Australia.

However, there are reports that Japan is about to be added, even though much of the country has been in lockdown.

The UK’s status is now expected to be reviewed again on June 14.