PORTUGAL will be added to the UK’s quarantine list unless it has a “miracle drop” in coronavirus cases, an expert has warned.
On Friday, the country recorded 401 new cases of Covid-19 infection – its highest number in seven weeks.
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This comes just a week since British holidaymakers were given the green light to visit Portugal.
Travel firm PC Agency, which publishes daily infection numbers, lists Portugal as an “amber” nation” meaning it is approaching the quarantine threshold with 19.4 infections per 100,000 people over a seven day period.
The UK government places countries with 20 cases per 100,000 on its quarantine travel list.
Paul Charles, of PC Agency, said the current infection rate means the country could be taken off the Government’s travel corridor in the coming days.
Mr Charles told the Daily Mail: “It will need to see a miracle drop in case numbers by Thursday to avoid being added again to the Government’s on-off quarantine list as it is quickly veering into the red zone.”
He added that Portugal is a “victim of its own success in attracting so many tourists rapidly.”
This news is a disaster for the estimated 75,000 Britons who are either in the country or are due to fly there soon.
Travel site Skyscanner reported a 2,000 per cent increase in booking when Portugal was added to the UK’s travel corridor on August 22.
If it is taken off the corridor, then Britons will have to isolate for two weeks when they return to the UK and may struggle to get travel insurance.
People risk a £1,000 and a criminal record if they break quarantine rules when they return.
This comes after Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic were added to the banned list last week.
A total of 17 countries once deemed “safe” have been added to the list in the past month.
The Association of British Travel Agents slammed the Government’s “stop-start” measures.
A spokesman said: “As long as quarantine remains the principal strategy in the Government’s containment of Covid-19, the travel industry will continue to suffer.
“Given the rapid change in infection rates in different areas, it is vital the Government moves as quickly as possible to assess risk on a regionalised, not whole-country basis.”
