Coronavirus: Mainland Greece added to UK's quarantine list

Travellers returning from mainland Greece will need to self-isolate for two weeks on their return to the UK, the transport secretary has said.

The measures come into effect from 04:00 GMT on Saturday.

The Greek islands of Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, Kos and Zakynthos will be exempt from the latest move.

People returning from Qatar, UAE, Laos and the Turks and Caicos Islands will no longer need to quarantine on their return.

Bahrain, Chile, Iceland and Cambodia will also be exempt from quarantine rules.

Current restrictions in England mean that only people with valid reasons are supposed to travel abroad at the moment.

People who break the rules face fines starting at £200 and rising to a maximum of £6,400.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said data had shown "a consistent increase" in newly reported cases in Greece over the past fortnight, with a 136% increase in newly reported cases to 16,429 between 5 and 12 November from 6,965 between 22 and 29 October.

It added the islands of Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, Zakynthos and Kos have not seen as significant a growth in cases over recent weeks as the rest of Greece and therefore remain on the travel corridors list.

Denmark was cut from the UK's safe list last week after a mutated strain of Covid-19 was found to have spread to humans from mink.

Grant Shapps said the UK's travel ban on Denmark would be extended for a further 14 days.

The UK imposed a ban on non-UK citizens coming from Denmark amid concerns over a new coronavirus strain that has spread from mink to humans.

UK citizens can return from Denmark - but will have to isolate along with all members of their household for 14 days.

Meanwhile, the transport secretary said earlier this week that the UK is making "good progress" in developing a testing regime to reduce the amount of time people need to spend self-isolating.

He has previously said he is "very hopeful" a new testing regime for travellers to the UK could be in place by 1 December.

It comes as a record 33,470 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the UK in the past day, official data shows.

It is the highest daily figure since mass testing began in the UK, and brings the total number of cases to more than 1.29 million.