Huge holiday shake-up sees Germany among SEVEN countries going green

A huge shake-up of Britain's travel list was unveiled tonight, which saw seven countries going green - opening the door for millions more holidays - but four others turning red, sparking a frantic rush home for tourists before the rules change on Sunday.

Austria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia will all move to the quarantine-free tier at the end of the weekend, in a huge boost for those looking to book a late summer getaway on the continent.

Meanwhile, the status of India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will switch from red to amber, meaning arrivals from those countries will no longer have to spend 11 nights at pricey quarantine hotels.

In a blow for others, however, Mexico, Georgia, La Reunion and Mayotte were downgraded to the red list, bringing with it a raft of restrictions for travellers returning to the UK.

While Spain avoided joining them, those flying back will soon face higher testing costs after ministers urged holidaymakers to take a PCR for the mandatory pre-departure test, rather than the cheaper lateral flow alternatives, 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'.

As expected, the Government also confirmed that arrivals from France will no longer need to self-isolate. It will be aligned with all other amber nations, from which arrivals only need to quarantine at home if they are not fully vaccinated. The changes to the travel lists come into force at 4am on Sunday.

Those who do have to quarantine in hotels after returning from red-list countries are now facing a heftier bill, however, which the Government says it to 'better reflect the increased costs involved'.

From August 12, the rate for solo travellers will rise from £1,750 to £2,285, while additional adults sharing a room will see their bill hiked from £650 to £1,430.

Children over the age of 12 are charged at the same rate as adults, while parents will have to cough up an additional £325 for those aged between five and 12.

It means a family of four with two teenage children now faces a hefty bill of £6,575, compared to £3,700 under previous rules - an increase of some 77.7%. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government is 'committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we've made through our successful vaccination programme'.

He went on: 'While we must continue to be cautious, today's changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public.'

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said changes to the travel lists are 'based on the latest data and expert public health advice'.

He added that the announcement 'demonstrates the need for continued caution', with additions made to the red list to 'help protect the success of our vaccine rollout from the threat of new variants'.

It comes as: 

The travel industry had feared that Spain could be added to the red list following a recent rise in coronavirus cases.

There were fears in the travel industry that Spain - the most popular overseas destination for UK holidaymakers - could be added to the red list, but it is staying amber.

The Government urged travellers arriving from Spain to take a PCR test 'wherever possible' as their mandatory pre-departure test.

Many people currently use cheaper lateral flow tests to meet the testing requirement.

In a statement, the Government said PCR tests should be used 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'.

It added that UK clinicians and scientists 'remain in close contact with their counterparts in Spain to keep abreast of the latest data and picture of cases'.

The Government claimed its decision to scrap the amber plus list and align France in line with the rest of the amber list 'simplifies the system to three categories'.

But the green watchlist - which is designed to give travellers notice where green status is at risk - remains in use, and is unchanged.

Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said the extension of the green list is 'a positive step forward' but warned that the UK remains 'a long way off a full and meaningful restart of international travel'.

Tim Alderslade, boss of Airlines UK, the industry body representing UK-registered carriers, described the announcement as 'another missed opportunity'.

He added that the travel industry has not had 'anything like the reopening it was hoping for'.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: 'While there's some welcome progress, the Government is still being too cautious at a time when they should be opening up travel faster to help the sector's recovery.'

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: 'Now summer is fully under way, this provides some reassurance to consumers by keeping the status quo for key holiday destinations, as well as adding some Green list destinations for last-minute bookers where there are still great flight and holiday deals available.

'But we remain disappointed at the double standards applied to travel versus the domestic economy. With infection rates remaining lower in much of Europe and the high vaccination levels in the UK, if not now, it is hard to know when the time is for much of Europe to genuinely turn Green.

'And Government urgently needs to tackle this expensive testing regime which is adding unnecessary cost, especially for the fully vaccinated. No one wants to see flying become a preserve of the rich again - particularly when so many need to get away or reunite after such a long time.'

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta - The Travel Association, said: 'Today's confirmation that France joins popular holiday destinations such as Spain and Greece on the list of countries that fully vaccinated individuals and their families can travel to without the need to quarantine on return is positive, particularly as we are now in the critical school holiday season.

'However, the Government is still failing to capitalise fully on the success of the vaccine rollout with a very cautious approach to the Green list and failure to relax restrictions on travel, including requirements for multiple tests even when visiting low risk destinations.

'As a result, the UK is falling behind our European competitors and the opening up of international travel from the UK is progressing at a snail's pace - making it extremely difficult for travel agents and tour operators to generate enough income to kickstart a recovery, which is desperately needed to protect jobs, businesses and livelihoods.'

It comes after aviation bosses urged ministers to relax travel testing rules on Wednesday after data suggested no coronavirus 'variants of concern' were found in hundreds of thousands of travellers returning from amber and red list countries.   

Testing remains a key part of the Government's traffic light scheme, with even travellers coming back from green list countries having to take a test after they get home. 

But analysis of official data published by The Telegraph showed that fewer than one in 60 people returning from an amber or red nation tested positive for Covid-19.

More than 320,000 people arrived back in the UK from countries in those categories between July 1 and July 21 and no 'variants of concern' were identified.  

The disclosure came as it was confirmed that Spain will not be moved to the 'red list' because of falling case numbers in the country and fears the Government's hotel quarantine system would be unable to cope. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to deliver his three-weekly update to the rules on Thursday. 

Boris Johnson refused to be drawn on what will be announced as he answered questions this afternoon during a visit to Scotland. 

But he said he recognised that 'people yearn to go abroad' and insisted the Government must strike a 'balance' between opening up travel and protecting against importing coronavirus variants.   

Spain will remain on the amber list which means fully-vaccinated Brits can return home without having to quarantine. 

There had been fears the country could be moved up to the 'red list' but it has now been confirmed that it will remain in the medium tier.

Meanwhile, holidays to France are expected to be back on the table with the 'amber plus' list reportedly set to be scrapped altogether.

France is the only country in the category which currently means that even double-jabbed travellers have to quarantine when they come home.

Ministers are expected to streamline the traffic light system but Boris Johnson remains under pressure to go further and scrap it completely. 

Aviation bosses and Tory MPs believe the system should be replaced with one simple 'red list' of banned nations, with vaccinated tourists allowed to travel everywhere else quarantine-free. 

France was put on the 'amber plus' list due to fears over the spread of the Beta coronavirus variant.        

But numbers now show that just 0.4 per cent of Covid-19 cases in France are Beta while the number is 0.5 per cent in Spain, according to The Times.

Ministers were considering rolling out a new 'amber watchlist' for countries currently amber but at risk of imminently turning red. 

It had been suggested that Spain could be put in the new category but Mr Johnson torpedoed the new list after a ferocious backlash. 

As well as a fall in case numbers in Spain, the nation has also been spared the 'red list' because of logistical concerns around hotel quarantine. 

All travellers returning from a 'red list' nation have to spend 10 days in a Government-approved hotel at their own expense.  

The Government has tens of thousands of rooms reserved but with an estimated one million UK tourists in Spain there would not be space in the system for all of them to be housed. 

A Whitehall source told The Times: 'Spain won't be going on the amber watchlist - the only danger is it going red but that's very unlikely. 

'Cases are coming down. And they haven't got enough beds to quarantine everybody. So it's not going to happen.' 

Meanwhile, Britain's daily Covid cases increased for the first time in almost a fortnight on Wednesday, but hospitalisations continue to fall, official data revealed. 

Health chiefs posted 29,312 positive tests, an increase of six per cent on last week's 27,734. It is the first time the cases have risen week-on-week since July 27 (44,104).

Coronavirus-tracking experts warned the recent fall in cases — which sparked hopes the worst of the third wave was over — was beginning to flatten out as a delayed result of Freedom Day.

Another 119 laboratory-confirmed deaths were also recorded today, up by around 31 per cent on the 91 victims declared last Wednesday.

But the number of people being admitted to hospital with the virus is continuing to fall. Admissions dropped 19.1 per cent to 668 on Saturday — the latest data figures are available for.

It is the fifth day in a row hospitalisations fell on the week before, in a glimmer of hope that Britain may be turning a corner in the amount of severe disease caused by the third wave. The number of infected people occupying NHS beds in England has fallen below 5,000 for the first time since July 25.

The fall in admission can be explained in part by the effect of Britain's successful vaccine drive. Some 29,508 first doses were given out yesterday, taking the total amount of adults to have had a jab up to 46.9million — 88.7 per cent of the population.

Meanwhile, another 143,002 second doses were put in people's arms, meaning 38.7million (73.2 per cent of adults) are now fully protected against the virus. 

It comes as ministers today confirmed 16 and 17 year olds will be offered Covid vaccines. No10's top experts also opened the door to jabbing younger teenagers later in the year. 

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the Government on the vaccine roll-out, recommended that the 1.4million older teenagers should be offered the Pfizer jabs 'as soon as possible'.

England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said there was 'no time to waste'.