As of 5am on Saturday morning, anyone arriving in the UK from the Czech Republic will be required to undergo two weeks of quarantine, whether they are tourists or British citizens, and even if they have a negative PCR test. Photo credit: Freepik / For illustrative purposes.
Czech Rep., Aug 28 (BD) – The British government has added the Czech Republic to its list of high-risk countries for coronavirus, meaning that anyone travelling from the Czech Republic into the UK will be required to quarantine for two weeks. The rule will apply to citizens of the UK, Czech Republic, and third countries, whether or not they have a recent negative PCR test. The measure was announced by British Transport Minister Grant Shapps on Twitter, and will apply from 5am on Saturday morning (CET).
The British Foreign Ministry is also advising against any non-essential travel to the Czech Republic. The UK has recorded over 41,000 deaths compared to just 418 in the Czech Republic, but the country’s risk list is mainly based on whether a country has had more than 20 cases per 100,000 population in the last week, and new cases in the Czech Republic have been increasing steadily.
The Czech authorities are said to be planning to negotiate with their British counterparts. 300-500,000 British nationals visit the Czech Republic each year, and 250-450,000 Czechs go to Britain, with travel in both directions anticipated to drop sharply.