Quarantine yes or quarantine no? UK medical and health tourists wanting to go to EU countries are now thoroughly confused. Ian Youngman believes the new restrictions have as much to do with EU and tourism politics as they have to do with health and safety.
Most UK medical and health tourists who go to EU countries are now thoroughly confused.
Just as the UK government seeks to allow travel without having to quarantine on return, other countries are now imposing new quarantine on arrival, just for people from the UK.
UK travel is divided into green, amber and red countries. Travel from or to red countries is mostly banned. Travel from or to green countries is not encouraged but not banned and while there are test requirements, there is no need to quarantine on entry or return to the UK. For amber countries travellers must quarantine for 14 days on entry or return.
The UK list changes every two weeks, while the EU suggested list using a similar traffic light system changes irregularly.
What adds to the confusion is that individual countries are free to make their own variations. While EU countries have rules on travel between EU countries, the exit of the UK from the EU means that it is regarded as a third country, so individual EU countries can impose their own rules for travel to and from the UK.
While the UK is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, failure to close the borders when warned about a Delta variant from India also means that the strain is now dominant in the UK and growing in the EU. Some EU countries want to limit the risk while others are more worried about damage to their travel trade.
The position for UK health and medical tourists is that they are at the mercy of rules both for travel from the UK, and on where they go. With scheduled changes every few days and even a risk of instant change, it is almost impossible to plan.
While urgent medical treatment was often an exception allowed a few months ago, recent rule changes from the EU and individual countries no longer have that as a rule.
In practice, few outbound UK medical tourists went abroad for urgent care, except for cancer treatment, but even that is falling as more UK cancer centres open.
Potential health and medical tourists to or from the UK are the forgotten sector in the ever changing rules, which are partly fuelled by health concerns, partly due to politics between the UK and the EU and specific EU countries, and partly for domestic political consumption within certain EU countries.
Germany wants all EU countries to follow its lead and attempt to discourage all British travellers from the European Union regardless of whether or not they have had the coronavirus vaccine. Brits travelling to Germany are currently required to quarantine for 14 days on arrival.
Greece, Spain and Cyprus may resist the plans, while Portugal, Malta and France have backed mandatory 14-day quarantine for travellers who have not had a Covid vaccine. Politics over France’s stance on fishing around Jersey, Portugal’s reaction to the UK’s sudden U-turn in moving it from green to amber may also be having an influence.
While much of the debate may seem irrelevant now as few EU countries are on the UK green list. The green list includes Malta, Spain’s Balearic Islands (but not Spain), and Portugal’s Madeira (but not Portugal).
France, Greece, Italy and mainland Spain and Portugal remain in the amber tier, meaning travellers returning to the UK from those locations must self-isolate at home for 10 days. The UK government has advanced plans to allow travel without quarantine on return from amber list countries, but only for those who have had two vaccinations.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) argues there is no need to impose quarantines on British travellers arriving in the EU; “WTTC is very concerned about reversing quarantine measures and would urge against EU states imposing them on arriving British. With more than 60% of British adults now fully vaccinated, they should be able to enjoy quarantine-free travel to the EU. Quarantines are not the most effective measure to curb the spread of Covid-19 and there is no need to reintroduce them especially given the increasing vaccination rates across Europe.”
The WTTC also wants the UK to reopen international travel by allowing fully vaccinated citizens to travel freely without quarantine, both inbound and outbound. It suggests the UK removes PCR testing requirements for travel from countries on the green list, and replace it with a rapid test or no test. It states that PCR tests are expensive and inconvenient, and their use will continue to deter people from travelling.
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