- Denmark, Iceland, Curaçao and Slovakia removed from list of travel corridors for UK arrivals, following data showing a significant increase in confirmed cases
- people planning to go overseas urged to check the latest advice from the FCDO before travelling
- all travellers will be required to fill in a passenger locator form before arriving into the UK
People arriving in the UK from Denmark, Iceland, Curaçao and Slovakia from 4am Saturday 26 September 2020 will need to self-isolate for 2 weeks as the countries are removed from the travel corridors list.
Data from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England has indicated a significant change in both the level and pace of confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in all those destinations, leading to ministers removing these from the current list of travel corridors.
There has been a consistent increase in COVID-19 cases per 100,000 of the population in Iceland, with data showing a 921% increase in newly reported cases over the past week. In Slovakia, there has been a consistent increase in the weekly case rate of COVID-19 over the past 4 weeks, with a 115% increase in weekly cases per 100,000 between 2 and 23 September 2020.
There has also been a 508% increase in newly reported cases per week in Denmark over the past 4 weeks, and a 481% increase in newly reported cases over 7 days per 100,000 between 2 and 23 September 2020 in Curaçao.
At the same time, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has also updated its travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to Denmark, Iceland, Curaçao and Slovakia.
The government has made consistently clear it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus, including removing countries from the travel corridors list rapidly if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high.
People currently in Denmark, Iceland, Curaçao and Slovakia are encouraged to follow the local rules and check the FCDO travel advice pages for further information. The government is urging employers to be understanding of those returning from these destinations who now will need to self-isolate.
COVID-19 has profoundly changed the nature of international travel. Travellers should always check the latest advice from the FCDO, given the potential for changing coronavirus infection rates to affect both the advice about travelling to other countries and rules about self-isolation on return.
All travellers, including those from exempt destinations, will still be required to show a complete passenger locator form on arrival into the UK unless they fall into a small group of exemptions. Border Force carry out spot checks, and travellers who refuse to provide their contact details via the passenger locator form, face a fixed penalty starting at £100.
