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Portugal coronavirus quarantine return 'would cause chaos for travellers', warns BA boss

Passengers wear face masks for protection against the new coronavirus while riding on a tram in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. Portuguese health authorities have advised people to wear face masks when using public transport to help stem the spread of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Passengers wear face masks on a tram in Lisbon, Portugal. (AP)

Travellers will face “chaos and hardship” if Portugal is put back on the UK’s coronavirus quarantine list, an airline boss has warned.

Arrivals in the UK from Portugal may have to self-isolate for 14 days if restrictions are reimposed because of a rise in cases of COVID-19.

There were 21.1 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to 30 August, up from 19.4 in the seven days to 29 August.

A seven-day rate of 20 is the threshold above which the government considers triggering quarantine conditions.

Searches for flights to Portugal soared after the country was removed from the UK’s quarantine list less than a fortnight ago.

Portugal was removed from it on 22 August after coronavirus cases lowered.

The boss of the parent company of British Airways warned against reimposing restrictions on arrivals from Portugal.

Passengers wearing protective face masks wait for a flight to Nantes at Lisbon's airport during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Lisbon, Portugal June 15, 2020.  REUTERS/Rafael Marchante
Passengers wearing protective face masks wait for a flight at Lisbon's airport in Portugal. (Reuters)

Writing in The Times, Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, said: “Another U-turn by the government, adding Portugal to the quarantine list, will cause further chaos and hardship for travellers.”

He said the “ever-shifting list” of countries requiring quarantine means “the UK has officially hung up the ‘Closed’ sign”.

Walsh said: “The government is using arbitrary statistics to effectively ban 160 countries and in the process destroying the economy.

File photo dated 27/05/15 of Willie Walsh, British Airways' owner, who has confirmed 12,000 job cuts at the airline will still go ahead despite the Government extending its furlough scheme until the end of October.
British Airways parent company boss Willie Walsh has warned against reimposing quarantine measures on arrivals from Portugal. (PA)

“The government needs to introduce a testing regime to restore confidence.”

Google search data showed a significant spike in searches for the term “flights to Portugal” by users in the UK at about 6pm on 20 August, the day the lifting of the quarantine was announced.

Travellers returning from Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic were the latest to be told they must quarantine for 14 days if they were arriving in the UK from Saturday following spikes in coronavirus infection rates.

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