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Decision made: Portugal left off UK safe travel list, Lisbon to blame

73decision madeAfter a week of tension and uncertainty, it has finally been announced for certain that Portugal has been left off the list of safe destinations to travel, just published this afternoon by the United Kingdom.

This is a decision that greatly affects the Algarve, the main holiday destination for the British in Portugal. Following exclusion from this list, British citizens visiting the region will be required to comply with a 14-day quarantine period on their return to the United Kingdom.

The decision was based on criteria such as the number of new cases, and the potential trajectory of the virus spread in coming weeks and months. In this list, despite the exclusion of mainland Portugal, the Azores and Madeira are part of the so-called safe destinations. Countries like Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Macau or Jamaica are also included in the list, which totals 59 countries or territories.

Despite this decision, the British Ministry of Transport says in a statement that the "list could be extended in the coming days, after further discussions between the UK and international partners".

This is a measure that will come into force in a week, on 10 July. In a statement, Grant Shapps, Transport Minister, said that this decision represents "the next step in the careful reopening of our great nation".

"Whether you are a tourist ready to travel abroad or a company eager to open its doors again, this is good news for the British people and great news for British companies," he concluded.

João Fernandes, president of ‘Turismo do Algarve’, has also reacted to the exclusion of Portugal from the list published by the UK, considering it "particularly unfair" to the Algarve.

The tourism head announced that "we regret and do not understand some of the facts of this decision, which is particularly unfair for the Algarve, which is the preferred destination for British tourists" in Portugal.

"We were clearly penalized, as a country, for speaking the truth," added Fernandes. “I ask if it will be safer to travel to countries that test a quarter or half of what Portugal tests”.

"This decision is strange, very penalizing for a region that has 18 thousand British residents, who can perfectly attest to the security they witness every day".

The official said he was surprised by the decision also because the Algarve, "according to the European Commission, through European Best Destinations, was elected one of the 20 safest regions for holidays in the coming months".

See https://algarvedailynews.com/travel/18181-travel-corridors-countries-and-territories-exemption-list for the current exemption list.

TUI have put together a comprehensive to tool to show travellers where the can go on holiday safely. CLICK HERE

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Comments  

+2 #8 Steve 2020-07-06 15:22
Quoting Chip:

As of yesterday total tests:
UK 10,505,758
PT 1,205,593

With UK's population seven times larger it shows Portugal have a slightly lower test rate.

For this type of comparison you should be using the number of test performed per 1000 population, which for Portugal is 116 per 1000 and UK 72 per 1000. Also to be noted is, the UK is testing anyone showing symptoms and Portugal has an open public testing which includes asymptomatic people.
0 #7 Chip 2020-07-06 13:16
Quoting Maximillian:
Quoting Chip:
Whilst the number of deaths in June per million of population in Portugal is about a quarter of the UK's, the number of new cases per million is 964 for Portugal and 557 for the UK.
That's why the UK government excluded Portugal from the safe list.

Not completely true. Portugal carries a lot more tests (whether they are correct or not). One needs to know how many tests per million are carried out for each country. Not every country shares this information; P'gal does.


As of yesterday total tests:
UK 10,505,758
PT 1,205,593

With UK's population seven times larger it shows Portugal have a slightly lower test rate.
+6 #6 Maximillian 2020-07-05 17:23
Quoting Chip:
Whilst the number of deaths in June per million of population in Portugal is about a quarter of the UK's, the number of new cases per million is 964 for Portugal and 557 for the UK.
That's why the UK government excluded Portugal from the safe list.

Not completely true. Portugal carries a lot more tests (whether they are correct or not). One needs to know how many tests per million are carried out for each country. Not every country shares this information; P'gal does.
0 #5 Chip 2020-07-05 15:00
Whilst the number of deaths in June per million of population in Portugal is about a quarter of the UK's, the number of new cases per million is 964 for Portugal and 557 for the UK.
That's why the UK government excluded Portugal from the safe list.
+7 #4 Brook 2020-07-05 10:00
According to statistics from wikipedia, 23 million people visit Algarve annually and little over 2 million of these are from Britain.
It is unfortunate that British people are unable to travel here, but if they can hold of until the autumn when the travel ban might be lifted, they will be rewarded with lovely temperatures (less than 30°c) and more space on the beaches.
+11 #3 Maximillian 2020-07-04 11:13
Quoting Stuart Wood:
The strange thing is that despite all the issues around of lack of tourism I have not seen one article published outlining an alternative strategy from the government, either short term economic stimulus or a long term plan to hedge against possible future loss of business or transition to more robust economies. This head in the sand mentality, and negligence, is amazing. It is hard to fathom how the EU can continue to financially support a country that is still missing many of the reforms (that the money is supposed to support), ignores many laws which are required for membership and seems to have no ability to realign itself.

I don't think our Government is very skilled. Look at their backgrounds!
+3 #2 Steve 2020-07-04 11:03
I am not surprised by this decision, when you have a bunch of imbeciles running the country.
There is a good correlation between a politician and a new pathogen, the more it replicates, and the more it mutates the less effective it becomes. While a new pathogen will evolve over time to grow more benign and live in amity with its host, the politician does the exact opposite.
The only way to stop this pandemic is to stop the useless testing of people. The test has a high percentage of false positives and it only serves to fill the pockets of their manufacturers.
Deaths and not cases, are the only reliable measure.
+9 #1 Stuart Wood 2020-07-04 08:29
The strange thing is that despite all the issues around of lack of tourism I have not seen one article published outlining an alternative strategy from the government, either short term economic stimulus or a long term plan to hedge against possible future loss of business or transition to more robust economies. This head in the sand mentality, and negligence, is amazing. It is hard to fathom how the EU can continue to financially support a country that is still missing many of the reforms (that the money is supposed to support), ignores many laws which are required for membership and seems to have no ability to realign itself.

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