Gov’t slaps quarantines on Greek island travellers as cases rise

LONDON (AP):

The United Kingdom (UK) on Monday recorded nearly 3,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day running and unveiled a new “islands policy” that will require anyone returning to England from seven Greek islands, including Crete, Mykonos, and Santorini, to self-isolate for 14 days.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK reported 2,948 daily new coronavirus on Monday, down from the previous day’s number of 2,988, which had been the highest since May.

Although the higher cases of infection can partly be attributed to more testing, it is clear that there has been an uptick in the past few weeks as lockdown restrictions have been eased. In some places, local outbreaks in Britain have been so severe that many lockdown restrictions have been reimposed.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday the situation was “concerning” but denied that the government had lost control over the spread of the virus. He said that those under 25 accounted for a large number of the new infections and appealed to them to keep social distancing to protect vulnerable loved ones.

“Don’t infect your grandparents,” he said.

Britain’s Conservative government also said on Monday that travellers returning from seven Greek islands would have to quarantine for 14 days on their return to England beginning early Wednesday. Lesbos, Serifos, Tinos, and Zakynthos have been added to the UK quarantine list. The other Greek islands and the mainland remain free of quarantine requirements.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that the changes are part of a new targeted-risk approach to quarantine requirements to guard against importing coronavirus cases.

Britain has Europe’s worst death toll from the virus, recording more than 41,500 deaths within 28 days of testing positive. The actual toll is believed to be far higher as the government tally does not include those who died without having been tested.

The spike in UK cases follows big increases in Spain and France, both of which have seen the number of COVID-19 patients being hospitalised rising dramatically during the summer.