The Scottish Government has followed the UK on ruling that fully vaccinated travellers returning from France to Scotland will have to quarantine.
Decisions on border health measures are a devolved matter and the Scottish Government said on Friday said they were ‘considering the best approach’ after the u-turn announcement in England and Wales.
The decision, announced less than 36 hours before changes were due to come into effect, come as the requirement for all amber list returnees to self-isolate in their own homes was being removed.
The changes mean that if you have been in France in the 10 days before you arrive in Scotland, you must quarantine for 10 days on arrival and take day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests.
It had previously been decided that from July 19 that you’ll no longer need to self-isolate if you’re travelling to Scotland from an amber list country and you’ve been fully vaccinated in the UK.
But the Scottish Government announced these changes do not apply to France on Saturday evening.
Fully vaccinated travellers returning to Scotland from France will still be required to self-isolate from Monday (19 July).
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) July 17, 2021
The decision follows concerns about the persistence of Beta variant cases in France.
More at https://t.co/G6z19bb9Mz pic.twitter.com/yDTRGdstse
France will remain on the UK’s “amber list” but the government said the planned relaxation of rules would not apply there due to "persistent presence of cases" of the Beta variant, which was first identified in South Africa.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “Nobody wants travel restrictions in place for any longer than is absolutely necessary.
“We have been clear that the green, amber and red lists can change at short notice.
“It is important we act quickly to limit the risk of importation of variants of concern which could undermine the rollout of our vaccine programme.”
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