The British Government is studying different mechanisms to reduce the quarantine imposed on travelers from Spain . In an interview on the BBC, the Health Minister, Matt Hancock, reported that one of these possibilities is to test all travelers. "We are working to determine if testing people who come from Spain can reduce quarantine . However, it will not be a measure to be taken in the coming days, " he added.

"That work has not been completed. Until it is absolutely certain, we will not make any changes to our policy. Therefore, we are not going to announce anything immediately, " he insisted. Concerned about the possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 infections in Europe, Hancock does not rule out "taking a step back" in the de-escalation and taking the appropriate measures to keep his country safe.

In this regard, the Johnson Executive has verified that some of the countries to which it has not imposed any isolation measure are experiencing an increase in new cases. Hancock has not named them. "I think you can see right now the start of the second wave in Europe. We have all the mechanisms at our disposal to prevent it from reaching our shores and to tackle the problem in advance," Hancock said in another interview with Sky News .

50 businessmen demand changes to Johnson

The measure to isolate passengers arriving from Spain is the "last blow" for a sector that "now runs the risk of being permanently damaged," said fifty leading British business leaders, who sent a letter on Wednesday to the Prime Minister Conservative Boris Johnson. They also criticize the lack of notice and call for regional air corridors to be established in areas less affected by the virus.

"We are in a situation where the Government recommends not to travel to areas of Spain that have lower Covid rates than those of the United Kingdom, " said the letter, among others, the CEO of British Airways, Alex Cruz; the executive director of the employers' association Airlines UK, Tim Alderslade, and the head of London Heathrow Airport, John Holland-Kaye.

All of them ask Johnson for an "urgent meeting" to "analyze the challenges" facing "our sector" and to analyze "our proposals to move forward."

Holland-Kaye already advanced this morning some of the solutions preferred by the industry and stressed, above all, the importance of introducing a "double test system" of coronavirus for people arriving in the UK.

"Testing travelers is a way of opening up to travel and trade for some of the UK's largest markets and businesses that are still closed today," said Heathrow's chief executive, for example. , to the more than 600,000 Britons who are currently on vacation in Spain.

Holland-Kaye explained that travelers can be given a first test upon arrival at the airport and a second "five or eight" days later to avoid "false negatives" and shorten the 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

The executive assured that the infrastructure needed to carry out these analyzes at British airports could "be ready in two weeks" and indicated that it would be the passengers who would have to pay the bill for each test, which, according to him, would cost around 150 pounds ( 165 euros).

The reality is that the pressure continues to come from various fronts, after tour operators such as Jet2 and TUI have announced the cancellation of their holiday offers in Spain , including those in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, for the coming weeks.

The British opposition leader, the Labor party Keir Stamer, reiterated his support for the Government, recognizing that he considers necessary the "measures taken on quarantine" , although he recommended that the period of isolation be reduced with "multiple tests", in line with the position of the tourism sector.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Spain
  • UK
  • Salvador Illa
  • Europe
  • Canary Islands
  • British Airways
  • Boris Johnson
  • Balearics

Coronavirus Spanish health experts try to convince the United Kingdom to exclude the Balearic and Canary Islands from quarantine

Tourism Airlines and large tourist groups in the United Kingdom ask the British Government to end the quarantine of Spain

TurismoTUI and Jet2 cancel their flights also to the Balearic and Canary Islands

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