The British government has announced plans to ease restrictions on foreign travel, exempting from quarantine people arriving from 12 countries including Israel and Portugal but not France.
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"I'm announcing today that from May 17 you will be able to travel to 12 green-list countries ... which include Portugal, Gibraltar, and Israel," Transport Minister Grant Shapps said Friday.
However, popular destinations such as France, Spain, and Greece were not yet on the so-called "green list", which will be reviewed every three weeks.
"This is just a first step," said Shapps.
The 12 countries and territories on the list are Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, and Israel.
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It is currently illegal for anyone in Britain to travel abroad for vacation. Only British citizens are allowed to enter the country from so-called "red" locales, and they must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days upon arrival at their own expense.
Holidaymakers to these countries will need to take a pre-departure test up to 72 hours before their return travel and a single test on or before day two of arrival into England, said the transport department.
While the government in London sets transport and health policy for England only, Shapps said he expected the governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to follow suit.
The move follows a decision by the European Union on Thursday to add Israel to the list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to visit for leisure, as Europe seeks to revive travel and salvage summer tourism from tough COVID-19 restrictions.
Reopening to Israeli tourists comes as the EU is moving to ease its current blanket ban on non-essential travel from foreign countries, with only a handful of exceptions, including New Zealand and Australia.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
