Coronavirus: Portugal to be added to Scottish quarantine list

Passengers arriving in Scotland from Portugal after 04:00 on Saturday will have to self-isolate for 14 days, the Scottish government has confirmed.

French Polynesia has also been added to Scotland's quarantine list.

And travellers from Gibraltar have been warned that the territory was "high up our watch list" by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf.

Earlier this week Scotland announced similar quarantine restrictions for travellers from Greece.

Ministers said they considered targeting regions of Portugal with the quarantine rule but ultimately decided a "whole country approach" was necessary.

Mr Yousaf said people should "think very hard" before embarking on non-essential travel during the pandemic.

"With Scotland's relatively low infection rate, importation of new cases is a significant risk to public health," he added.

"I would also encourage people who have returned to Scotland from Portugal or French Polynesia in the last few days to be particularly careful in their social contacts and to ensure they stick to the FACTS.

"I am also concerned by the level of infections in Gibraltar and we will be monitoring the situation there very carefully."

He said they were in regular discussions with the other three governments in the UK.

"We continue to closely monitor the situation in all parts of the world and base the decisions we make on the scientific evidence available," he said.

"The requirement for travellers to quarantine for 14 days on arrival from a non-exempt country is vital to help prevent transmission of the virus and to suppress it - not doing so poses a significant risk to wider public health across Scotland."

When Derek Burt's mother was diagnosed with MND six weeks ago, she asked for "one more trip" - a holiday with her family.

With trips to Florida and Croatia already cancelled, when quarantine restrictions were lifted two weeks ago they settled on Portugal.

Although the virus rates seemed on the high-side, he "assumed the government knew what they were doing" and would not return the country to the quarantine list.

"How stupid was I to show any faith in our countries' decision-makers?" he said.

They have had an amazing week, and his mother was able to fulfil her wish to watch her grandchildren playing in the pool of their villa.

But now the family from Dunfermline in Fife is racing to get home to beat the new restrictions that come into force at 04:00 on Saturday.

Mr Burt said he is "incredibly frustrated" by the decision of the Scottish and Welsh governments, describing it as a "complete shambles".

The decision follows the Welsh government's announcement that travellers to Wales from six Greek islands and mainland Portugal would have to isolate from 04:00 on Friday.

However, arrivals to England and Northern Ireland from Portugal and Greece will not be subject to the same restrictions.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC Breakfast that the different rules across the UK were confusing for travellers, and said it was similar to the way lockdown had been applied across the four nations.

He added: "We look at the data and then we do speak - but I'm afraid quite often come to slightly different outcomes which I appreciate is confusing for people".

He described Portugal as being on a "borderline", adding that "the opinion of England and Northern Ireland is that it did not justify quarantine this week".

The seven-day infection rate in Portugal has increased from 15.3 to 23 per 100,000 people.

A seven-day rate of 20 per 100,000 is the threshold above which the UK government generally considers triggering quarantine conditions.

Holidaymakers have only been able to travel from Scotland to Portugal without quarantine restrictions since 22 August, when it was added to the government "exemptions" list..

It follows the addition of Greece to Scotland's quarantine list, which came into force on Thursday;

Ministers blamed the decision on a "significant rise" in coronavirus cases being brought into Scotland from people who had been to Greece.

The moves have been criticised by leading figures in the aviation industry, who have compared job losses in the industry to the demise of the coal industry in the 1980s.

They want to see Covid-19 testing at airports so passengers can leave quarantine early.