First Time During Pandemic, Britain Is Allowing Its Citizens To Take Vacation

Illustration: Britain (doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Britain will allow its citizens to travel to a number of countries for holidays starting May 17. This is the first time Britain has given its citizens access to freedom, after months of banning most international travel to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"Today marks the first step in returning to our prudently opening up to international travel, with measures designed to protect public health and ensure we don't waste the profits we have worked so hard for this year," said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, as reported by Reuters.

 Only 12 countries and territories are on the "green-list," including Portugal, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, and the tiny Faroe Islands.

Meanwhile, four favorite destinations for British citizens for a vacation such as Spain, France, Italy, and the United States are not yet on the list of countries that can be visited. All four countries fall into the amber category, which requires self-isolation for those returning to Britain.

Turkey, another great holiday destination, was added to the red list. It requires travelers to spend 10 days in managed hotel quarantines on their return, which they must pay for themselves.

While the legal ban on all non-essential international travel will be lifted for the first time since January, the government says people should still avoid traveling to countries on the yellow or red list for holidays.

Airlines, travel agencies, and tourist attractions in southern Europe have been waiting for British citizens ---who spent a fortune to start traveling again--- but they have had to wait several months longer for a full recovery.

With Portugal as the first major Mediterranean holiday destination to be green-listed, Thomas Cook and Club Med said bookings had risen 250 percent last Friday. TUI said it had added more flights to Portugal.

The list will be reviewed every three weeks. This only applies to people from England for now, but delegated governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are expected to accept it as well.

Those traveling to countries on the green list must take two COVID-19 tests, one before returning to the UK and another within two days of returning.