Portugal could be added to quarantine list after surpassing Covid-19 case threshold
31 August 2020, 15:47
Portugal could be placed back on the UK's quarantine list after its number of coronavirus cases surged past the threshold.
There were 21.1 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to 30 August, which surpasses the UK government's threshold by 1.1.
This is is up from 19.4 cases per 100,000 people recorded in the seven days to 29 August.
The UK government currently considers adding countries to the quarantine list - which means people are required to isolate for 14 days upon returning - when they rise above 20 cases per 100,000.
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It comes just over a week after Portugal was initially removed from the list, resulting in a huge increase in searches for flights to the nation.
Internet users were specifically searching "flights to Portugal" at around 6pm on 20 August - shortly after the travel corridor was announced.
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Several easyJet flights from London to Portugal at the weekend were unavailable by Friday, while other airlines made moves to capitalise on the loosened restrictions by opening up extra seats.
Meanwhile, travellers returning from countries including Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic as for 4am on Saturday are now required to self-isolate for 14 days after a surge of infection rates.
