UK to decide in days whether to put France on COVID red list - Sky News
LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - British officials want ministers to decide within days whether France should be placed on Britain's travel 'red list' for the most dangerous COVID hot spots which require expensive hotel-based quarantine, Sky News reported on Friday.
"I'm told Whitehall believe there is a short window to make a decision on France - possibly just days," Sky deputy political editor Sam Coates said on Twitter.
"France is the second biggest holiday destination after Spain. Most state schools break up next Friday. There's a belief a decision needs to be made before then," he added.
A spokesperson from Britain's Department for Transport declined to comment on the report.
Britain's quarantine rules have until now largely stopped overseas travel to all but a handful of overseas destinations due to complex testing and quarantine requirements.
But from Monday, travellers from countries which are on a so-called amber list - which currently includes France - will no longer need to quarantine at home for 10 days on their return if they are fully vaccinated and have tested negative for COVID.
Britain is currently reporting around 10 times as many COVID cases as France.
Turkey is the biggest summer tourism destination currently on Britain's red list, with most of Europe classed as amber. (Reporting by David Milliken, Editing by Andrew MacAskill and Michael Holden)
