British green list: France and Italy among 20 countries should be added in July UK News

France, Italy and Austria among 20 countries to be added to the UK’s green travel list later this month.

Following the last review on June 24, the next review of the UK travelers list is expected in the week starting July 12.

Around 20 new destinations could be opened to British holidaymakers, without having to quarantine, thanks to the stabilization of Covid-19 infection rates.

Which countries could be added?

According to analysis by former British Airways chief strategy officer Rovert Doyle, popular tourist spots in France and Italy are among a series of countries that could join the list of countries without quarantine by the end of the month, reports the Telegraph.

Mr Doyle says infection rates are stabilizing in parts of Europe. About 20 additional destinations could be added to the green list following the next travel review.

Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Norway, Vietnam, Denmark, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Taiwan and Azerbaijan are also expected to be added at the end of the month.

All of these destinations are currently on the Amber List, which means UK tourists must self-isolate for 10 days upon their return to the UK.

Explaining his prediction for the Green List update, Mr Doyle said: “There doesn’t appear to be anything in the data that the government says it is using that is why they are languishing on the Amber List at this point.

“I’m sure the answer is political in some way, but there doesn’t even seem to be any obvious political logic as to why two seemingly similar countries are ranked differently.”

Meanwhile, Karen Dee, CEO of the Airport Operators Association, called on the government to be more open about how it decides its traffic light system, helping travelers better plan their future vacations.

She said: “In Parliament, the Transport Secretary has repeatedly urged people to look at the data to understand why some countries are on the green list and others are not.

“Yet when people look at this data, it raises more questions than it solves.”

How is the green list decided?

The decision on which countries are added to each list is based on a series of criteria, taking into account public health advice and the Joint Biosafety Center’s assessment of the latest Covid data.

The criteria for the lists include:

– The percentage of a country’s population that has been vaccinated
– The infection rate
– The prevalence of worrying variants
– The country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing

For countries on the green list, arrivals must pass a Covid test before departure, as well as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test by the second day of their return to the UK at the latest.
However, travelers will not need to self-quarantine or take additional tests, unless they test positive.

Arrivals from Orange List countries must be quarantined for a period of 10 days at a designated location of their choice and pass a Covid test before departure, as well as a PCR test the day or before the city and on or after the eighth day.

Arrivals from redlisted countries must stay in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days, take a Covid test before departure and a PCR test no later than day 2, and on or after day 8.

Travelers can only enter the UK from Red List countries if they are British or Irish nationals, or have UK residence rights.

The last travel review took place on Thursday, June 24, with Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps announcing 16 more destinations for the green list, with those changes taking effect on Wednesday (June 30).

The next review is expected to take place three weeks later, on July 15, just before all lockdown restrictions in England end.