The Telegraph reports that fears are growing that countries like France and Germany could join Spain on the UK’s quarantine list, as the Government warned it would take similar quick decisions in response to Covid-19 spikes.
France’s Prime Minister Jean Castex raised the possibility of a second lockdown as the health minister warned bars may be closed if cases continue to rise.
Mr Castex said a national lockdown could not be ruled out, but said the Government’s priority was “prevention” and local lockdowns would be imposed in areas where infections surge.
And Michael Kretschmer, premier in Germany’s state of Saxony, said: “The second wave of coronavirus is already here. It is already taking place every day. We have new clusters of infections every day which could become very high numbers.”
A Telegraph analysis reveals most countries on the Government’s list of “safe” holiday destinations have, like Spain, seen Covid-19 incidence rates rise sharply in the past week to post-lockdown peaks.
Senior ministers in France and Germany have both warned of possible new lockdowns as they fear second waves of Covid-19.
Travel industry chiefs said reimposing quarantine on Spain could “kill off” foreign holidays this summer as more families decided against going abroad at all because of the risk of unplanned self-isolation with only weeks to go before schools return in just over a month.
Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said the Government could “not make apologies” for its decision on Saturday even though it reversed an announcement by Mr Shapps just 24 hours earlier maintaining the Spanish exemption from quarantine.
Mr Raab also warned that other nations could have quarantine reimposed, adding: “There is an element of uncertainty this summer.”
The Telegraph analysis shows France’s rate has jumped 50 per cent in a week from six to nine cases per 100,000 of the population, with 1,130 new cases on Saturday, double the previous week’s rate.
Germany, Netherlands, Austria , Switzerland, Poland, Gibraltar, Italy, Monaco and Australia also saw incidence rates rise in the past week to post-lockdown peaks. Two countries – the Bahamas and Luxembourg – have risen to higher rates per 100,000 than Spain.
Read more via The Telegraph
