Travellers from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom will have to self-quarantine for two weeks after arrival. The changes come into place from Saturday.
If you’ve been craving a nice hot scone, tea with the queen, or just a hop across the pond, you may be forced to reconsider your travel plans. The rising number of infections in the Netherlands, France, Malta, Monaco, and Aruba has forced the UK government to impose stricter quarantine rules.
Infection control
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced the changes will come into effect from 4:00 AM Saturday morning, citing a significant increase in cases in those countries. “We’ve been working hard to get the number of infections down here, so we can’t allow us to import cases from other countries.”
The Netherlands has seen a jump in coronavirus cases over recent weeks. Cases on Tuesday rose by 4036 for the week prior, an increase on the previous week’s 2588 that is proving to be a trend.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also changed their travel advice for residents of the Netherlands going to the UK. “Great Britain will receive a code orange as travel advice because the Dutch have to be quarantined there,” a spokesperson told NOS.
The news is expected to force a rush back to the UK from at least half a million tourists currently on continental Europe. The Eurotunnel website is already struggling with the huge volume of enquiries, according to the BBC.
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Feature Image: Madeleine Ragsdale/Unsplash
