Travel news: European countries tighten measures as cases spike - The Telegraph

---

Travel news: European countries tighten measures as cases spike - The Telegraph Posted: 07 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT Countries across Europe are introducing fresh restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while Chancellor Rishi Sunak has hinted that more destinations could be added to the UK's quarantine list. Norwegians have been urged to avoid travel abroad, even to places with few Covid-19 cases, to prevent a resurgence.  Norway added France and Switzerland to the list of countries from which arrivals must self-isolate on Thursday due to rising infections – France recorded 1,604 cases, marking the first time since April that it saw more than 1,600 new infections on two consecutive days Meanwhile, Malta is banning mass gatherings and making face masks compulsory in public spaces; in parts of Marseille, France's second largest city, face coverings will be mandatory outdoors and in Scotland, where Aberdeen is in local lockdown, pubs will be required to collect customers' contact details. There are fears that both Malta (33 cases per 100,000) and France (23.4 per 100,000) could be added to the UK's "red list", following the addition of Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra on Thursday. The Government will not hesitate to impose measures for more countries when required, according to Mr Sunak. "If we need to take action as you've seen overnight we will of course not hesitate to do that," he told Sky News. Scroll down for the latest travel updates. 5:14PM What happened today?  Here are the key headlines:  French quarantine considered by ministers as infections rise Chancellor says UK Government will not hesitate to expand quarantine list US lifts global health advisory against travel Dutch Prime Minister urges tourists to avoid Amsterdam's busiest areas Japan records record number of coronavirus cases Britons asked to stay away from busiest beaches as heatwave begins Catch-up with the rest of today's travel news below. 5:03PM Comment: A quarantine for France? More people are dying on French roads each day than from Covid-19 There is madness, there is hysteria and then there is the suggestion that travellers in France might soon, once again, be quarantined on their return to Britain, writes Anthony Peregrine. France's seven-day rolling average for cases stands presently at 18.8 per 100,000 people. The equivalent figure for Britain is 12.3. Quarantine was imposed on travellers from Spain when that country's figure edged over 37. Thus, France is well short of the Spanish statistic and, as infectious disease specialist Professor Eric Caumes said: "We're concerned but, for the time being, the curve of cases is controllable." We also need to keep things in perspective. Yesterday, there were 49 Covid-19 deaths in the UK, and seven in France. Given that, on a normal, non-pandemic day, 1.660 French people die, the percentage increase due to the disease was well under one per cent, around 0.4%. To put it another way, more people die on French roads – around nine a day – than from this disease. And, as far as I know, no-one has ever suggested that we stop people going to France because of the lunatic driving. Read the full story. 4:58PM The outlook is bleak for the guardians of Africa's wildlife – here's how you can help In the African bush, safari tourism and wildlife have long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship, depending on each other for survival, writes Sue Watt. The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a devastating blow to the continent's tourism sector, estimated to be worth around US$38 billion in 2018. Consequently, Africa's vulnerable wildlife has been hit hard too. A new initiative, Ride4Rangers, led by UK Africa tour operators in partnership with conservation charity Tusk, of which Prince William is Royal Patron, is aiming to soften the blow – by getting on their bikes. Lockdowns have dealt a devastating blow to Africa's tourism sector Safari lodges and camps have remained eerily empty for months, starving national parks of essential income from visitor fees. The lion's share of a reserve's revenue comes through tourism, with park fees averaging around US$75/£57 per person per day. According to the Game Ranger Association of Africa, some 40,000-50,000 rangers are employed across the continent: many are out of work or have had their salaries cut by 50-80 per cent.  Read the full story. 4:53PM Plane carrying 185 people crash lands in India Fatalities were feared after a passenger jet carrying at least 185 people from Dubai crash-landed at an airport in southern India on Friday and broke in two, reports AFP. The Air India Express jet crashed at Kozhikode airport in Kerala state. A deputy from the state said that at least the pilot had died in the crash, while reports spoke of dozens of passengers taken to hospital. "The flight was coming from Dubai. It had over 185 passengers. Rescue operations are on but the rains are making it difficult," an emergency services official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the news agency. 4:48PM Coronavirus cases 'levelling off' in UK, ONS figures show Cases of the coronavirus are now levelling off or falling, according to latest surveillance figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Infection Pilot Survey. Last week ONS swab testing suggested that 1 in 1,500 people were infected with Covid-19 - a "slight" rise from the previous week, and one of the reasons that Boris Johnson called a halt to the lifting of more restrictions However today's results suggest cases have fallen to 1 in 1,900 for the week of July 27 to August 2 with an estimated 28,300 infected, down from 35,700 the previous week. Follow the coronavirus live blog. 4:43PM French health ministry notes uptick in virus cases in France  The French health ministry chief Jerome Salomon has said there had been a clear uptick in coronavirus infections in France and Europe. "The virus continues to circulate very actively worldwide. There is an upward trend in France and Europe," Salomon told a news conference. France's new Covid-19 infections rose by more than 1,600 over 24 hours for the second day running on Thursday, putting the country at levels not seen since late May, 4:41PM The trials and triumphs of a 'bubble' family holiday Have you tried a 'bubble' break yet? A trip with close friends or family, who form part of your post-lockdown contacts, that is. Well, if not let Claire Irvin, Telegraph's head of travel, act as your guide: I have to admit, the idea of a 'bubble holiday' troubled me. Lockdown involved months of seeing the same four walls and the same (in my case) three people – albeit my favorite people. Would a bubble holiday not mean simply swapping our four walls for four different walls, and extending our bubble to include more of my favourite people, who presumably, once the novelty had worn off, would become just as irritating as the other three? The answer, I found, was no. At least, not at Harebells on Habitat Escape's Lower Mill Estate in the Cotswolds, a gated nature reserve of some 550 acres featuring eight lakes, two rivers, award winning luxury sustainable lodging, a newly refurbished spa and a charming Cotswolds restaurant. Read the full story. 4:26PM Temperatures are set to reach 37C this weekend, and we're flocking to the coast 4:24PM Comment: There are only 17 active cases in Ibiza – so why can't Britons visit? Many in Spain believe there's more to the UK government's decision to impose quarantine for the country and its islands than just Covid-19 case numbers. Travel writer Abigail Lowe reports on her recent trip to the island: Three weeks ago I packed a suitcase and headed to the airport to catch a flight to Ibiza. It's a journey I've made hundreds of times before and it's usually accompanied by the faint flutter of butterflies in my stomach. This time, however, they were caused by anxiousness rather than excitement. It was my first trip to the White Isle this year and my first flight since the outbreak of Covid-19 – so, as well as sunscreen, a face mask and hand sanitiser now formed key components of my checklist. But any nervousness soon proved unfounded. Travel through London City Airport, already a speedy process, has been further streamlined, with social distancing measures, additional cleaning and temperature checks implemented to embed confidence and improve hygiene. Any remaining jitters about being in Ibiza dissipated as soon as I saw those immersive cerulean waters and boundless, clear blue skies. there seemed to be some respite for islanders, so many of whom rely entirely on tourism to make a living. Read the full story. 4:10PM Italy for £9? Britons willing to travel will find rock-bottom prices Travellers willing to take the plunge and head to Europe will find some remarkably cheap air fares and packages, writes Oliver Smith.   Cases remain low in Italy, and flights to Milan next week are available for as little at £9 (one-way) with Wizz Air. Ryanair has one-way fares to Venice in August for £10.  Return fares to Split in Croatia can be found for around £70, and return fares to Corfu start at around £75 – unheard of at short notice during peak season.  Read the full story.  3:59PM Japan confirms record number of infections Japan confirmed a record 1,580 new coronavirus infections today, as cases continue to mount throughout the country, particularly in urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka, Japan's national daily, The Mainichi, reports. With Japan's Bon holiday season beginning next week, there is concern that the movement of people will further spread the virus. The Tokyo metropolitan government also reported 462 new cases of coronavirus infection, just short of the daily record of 472 cases confirmed in the capital late last week. To mitigate the risk of the virus spreading, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has requested residents to refrain from traveling during the holiday. 3:53PM US warns Americans to 'exercise increased caution' in New Zealand due to Covid-19 The United States government has issued a warning to its citizens to "exercise increased caution in New Zealand due to Covid-19", despite the fact New Zealand has been lauded globally for its response to the pandemic, reports Giovanni Torre. The US has recorded almost five million coronavirus cases and more than 160,000 deaths from Covid-19. By contrast, New Zealand currently has only 23 cases, all of which are in managed isolation. On June 8, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, declared the pandemic over as community transmission has been eliminated. The warning on the US government travel advice website does not mention this fact.  Read the full story. 3:46PM Hurtigruten executive suspended after cruise ship outbreak Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten has said it had asked a top executive to step aside, after a coronavirus outbreak on one of its ships led to suspended operations and a police investigation. The Arctic cruise operator has been in hot water after an outbreak of Covid-19 was recorded on the MS Roald Amundsen. "On the initiative of Hurtigruten, Bent Martini is temporarily stepping down from the positions as chairman of the board and as managing director," CEO of Hurtigruten, Daniel Skjeldam said in a statement. "Temporarily, he will also step down from Hurtigruten's management," Skjeldam added. Hurtigruten said it had hired a law firm and an independent auditor "to conduct a full investigation of the incident". 3:29PM In pictures: Brighton rocks as temperatures soar Brighton has welcomed hundreds of visitors today intent on cooling off on one of the hottest days of the year. Who needs Majorca, huh? Temperatures could reach 37C in the south-east Credit: Reuters Brighton beach was busy despite the ongoing pandemic Credit: reuters 3:24PM Beware specialist coronavirus cover, says insurer British holidaymakers should be wary of taking trips relying solely on specialised coronavirus insurance, an insurance expert has warned.  Portugal is the latest to announce it will offer travellers cover for any costs related to disruption or healthcare caused by Covid-19; on Thursday the Canary Islands said it would afford tourists the same.  The move are designed to boost tourism industries withering behind a UK Foreign Office travel ban and the threat of quarantine (both Spain and Portugal are excluded from the Government's 'safe' list), but Antony Martin, managing director at Insurefor.com, said travellers should be wary of the limitations of such policies.  "It's great to see the regional government of the Canary Islands taking a proactive approach to instil consumer confidence at a time when the travel industry needs it most," he said. "However, UK consumers must be mindful that travelling against FCO advice will almost certainly invalidate any additional travel insurance policies, which means they will not be covered for any other incidents that might happen whilst they are away such as non-Covid-related medical expenses, theft or loss of baggage or accidental damage to personal items.  "It also means they won't be covered for pre-departure Covid-19 issues, such as if they contract the virus just before they are due to travel so they would not be covered for cancellation.  "While we want to support the tourism industry as much as possible, it is important that we educate consumers on the risks so they can make an informed decision. It is essential for people to travel with valid travel insurance to avoid huge pay outs should an unexpected incident occur either before or during a trip." 3:01PM Malta reimposes curbs as infections surge Malta has banned mass gatherings and made it mandatory to wear masks in public today as new Covid-19 cases surged after having been reduced to zero for a week in early July. Health authorities reported 49 new infections today, the second highest daily number since the first case was detected on March 7. Nine patients have died. Prime Minister Robert Abela ordered restrictions on public gatherings and measures to limit direct access to people in nursing homes, with visitors required to remain behind Perspex screens. 2:47PM AITO says FCA misleading consumers on cancellation rights AITO, the Specialist Travel Association, has written to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), saying it is misleading consumers about their rights by failing to tell those that book tour operator packages that they always have the right to cancel, at any time.  AITO says the recently introduced 2018 Package Travel Regulations added a new right of cancellation by the traveller and changed how cancellation by the organiser is regulated. Where their travel insurance providers cover Foreign Office advice against all but essential travel, then consumers can simply claim the tour operator's cancellation fee via their travel insurance, rather than wait for their tour operator to cancel, AITO says. But the FCA does not currently state this on its website or on its helpline. 2:35PM British holidaymakers weigh up returning early from France to avoid quarantine The mood among the relatively few Britons on holiday in Paris is sour and indignant amid speculation that the government may impose a two-week quarantine on their return, following a rise in coronavirus infections, reports David Chazan. "I just can't believe it," said John Harrison, 45, from Hertfordshire, outside the Louvre museum. "It will be very frustrating if they do this while we're here." Mr Harrison, travelling with his wife and two sons, said it would be too expensive to change their Eurostar tickets to an earlier date. "Anyway, you hear all sorts of rumours about [what] the government's going to do or not do, so we're not cutting our holiday short," he said. Read the full report. 2:32PM Comment: After Padstow and Salcombe, overtourism has taken another scalp in the South West Overtourism has taken another scalp in the South West, having already made the towns of Padstow and Salcombe unliveable for locals and turned the beaches of Cornwall into Benidorm with drizzle, writes Chris Moss.  Social media fizzes with outrage on the part of residents and regular users of Dartmoor Credit: Getty As of today, wild camping has been temporarily banned at a popular Dartmoor beauty spot. The draconian decision, announced by the Dartmoor National Park Authority on Wednesday, is a response to a dramatic rise in antisocial behaviour including dumping litter and disposable barbecues, abandoned tents and human waste.  In recent weeks, following the easing of lockdown, there have been reports of large groups of campers, including 100 people at Holne Woods and 70 tents at Bellever in the centre of the park – close to 3,000-year-old Bronze Age hut circles. Fifty fire pits were counted along one stretch of riverbank. "There is absolutely no excuse for this type of behaviour," said Kevin Bishop, chief executive of Dartmoor National Park Authority.  Read the full story. 2:27PM Estimates for infection rate in Wales published for first time by ONS They show that between July 27 and August 2, an estimated 1,400 people in private households in Wales had Covid-19 - the equivalent of 0.05 per cent of the population, or around one in 2,200 people. 2:22PM It's 'crazy' people are booking cruises, says cruise line boss Norwegian Cruise Lines chief executive Frank Del Rio made the comments on the company's second quarter earnings call. He said: If you had told me that we were going to be facing these set of circumstances, and your question is, 'Frank, would you be taking any bookings?' I would have laughed at you. I'll say, 'Of course, not, who would book? It's crazy,'" …But people are booking. People are confident that we're going to come back. People do want to cruise. They miss it. It's a heck of a vacation experience, a heck of a vacation value. And so this is temporary. The question is how temporary is temporary. In the last few days some of the first ships to resume cruising after the pandemic caused a worldwide pause have had to turn back due to passengers testing positive for the virus. 2:11PM Watch: Mixed reaction from Eurostar passengers over quarantine rules 2:10PM Britons warned not to 'underestimate the heat' as temperatures soar Britons have been warned not to "underestimate the heat" on what could be the hottest day of the year amid concerns that it will become "highly dangerous" to be outside. The UK is expected to see record-breaking temperatures on Friday, with the mercury set to rise to 37C in London and the south-east, the second day of a four-day heatwave. But the Met Office warned that, after a slightly cooler week, people could underestimate the heat, which could cause dehydration and sunburn, especially among the most vulnerable. Read the full report. 1:59PM Coastguard received 70 call-outs by midday The Coastguard has warned people to stay safe on the beach after rescue teams responded to 70 call-outs across the UK by midday today. Hundreds of people packed on to the beaches across Britain this morning as early as 9am, on what could be the hottest day of the year so far, prompting concerns over social distancing. HM Coastguard said around 70 call-outs had been made by midday on Friday, which is "above average for this time of year". The Coastguard reported its busiest day for more than four years as it dealt with 329 incidents on July 31, when the UK recorded the hottest day of the year and the third warmest on record, with the mercury rising to 37.8C (100.04F) at Heathrow Airport. 1:56PM Avoid all international travel, health minister tells Norweigans Norwegians should avoid all travel abroad, including to countries with few Covid-19 cases, the Norwegian health minister said on Friday. "There is still little contamination in Norway but we see increased contamination in countries that used to have control over their situations," Bent Hoie told a news conference. Norway imposed a 10-day quarantine on travellers from France and Switzerland on Thursday due to rising infection rates in those countries. This comes into effect on Saturday. Meanwhile, bars and restaurants in Norway may no longer serve alcohol after midnight, 1:48PM Britons cancelled French holidays 'a while back,' says travel boss Lee Hunt, managing director of travel agent Deben Travel, said that he had no bookings to France on his books. "They all cancelled a while back," he said.  "This week we have booked just three holidays, all for 2021. "What we could call the 'lates market' is non-existent, people just do not want to take the risk it seems. "To put those three bookings into context, we would usually this time of year have six staff members booking at least 10 holidays per day." Hunt said consumer confidence needs to return before travellers will book trips again. "We need the Foreign Office advice against ocean cruising lifted as soon as possible and more air corridors." 1:36PM Comment: UK holidaymakers enjoy one EU perk above all others — we must protect it At present, British holidaymakers enjoy the benefits of the reciprocal health – or EHIC – ­arr­angement, which entitles UK citizens to medical care using the public health system in all EU countries, plus a few other non-EU members such as Switzerland and Norway.  Telegraph Travel's consumer editor, Nick Trend, had hoped that we could hold onto this agreement after Brexit, but the latest signs could suggest otherwise.  It's an excellent and sensible scheme, and it especially benefits older travellers and those who are at higher risk of needing ­urgent medical care. I have warned that we may lose it as a result of Brexit but have clung on to the hope that it will be included as part of the final trade deal. The latest signals from Government are not encouraging, however. It is seeming more and more likely that we will end the transition period on Dec 31 without such a deal. A clue lies in a public briefing ­document published recently (gov.uk/visit-europe) that warns about the likely changes for travellers in several different areas.  Read the full story. 1:26PM A view from the beach The south of England has entered a three-day heat wave with temperatures expected to reach 37-38C in some parts on the country. Beachgoers in the south of England are making the most of the sun. The RNLI has urged people to avoid the busiest parts of the coast this weekend. Bournemouth Credit: Getty Margate Credit: Getty Bournemouth Credit: Getty 1:18PM Spain imposes local lockdown on town of 32,000 Spanish authorities have ordered about 32,000 people into lockdown in the central riverside town of Aranda de Duero in a effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Aranda de Duero residents' will be banned from entering or leaving the town, which is 90 miles north of Madrid. The move comes just six weeks after a nationwide easing of such measures. Spain has registered 310,000 registered Covid-19 infections and 28,500 deaths as was taken off the UK travel "green list" on July 25. 1:11PM Mandatory hotel quarantine begins for New South Wales arrivals from Victoria People who arrive in the Australian state of New South Wales from neighbouring Victoria will have to go into mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine from today. The new measures have been introduced in answer to a rise in coronavirus infections in Victoria. All returning New South Wales residents, unless they live within the state's border regions, will only be allowed to return via Sydney Airport. 1:05PM Face coverings to be mandatory in libraries, museums and places of worship in Scotland The First Minister has announced that the Government is expanding the list of indoor venues in which people must wear a face covering.  From tomorrow, the list will include libraries, museums and places of worship, she said. The Scottish Government is also updated its guidance on face visors. After reviewing scientific evidence, Sturgeon said they are not convinced that face visors provide "sufficient protection" to the wearer of others, so they must be worn with another type of face covering. 1:00PM Holidaymakers will travel anyway if refunds aren't available, says Which? editor Britons who've booked a holiday to a travel corridor country face much uncertainty as to whether their destination could be added to quarantine list. Spain, Serbia, Belgium, Luxembourg and Andorra are now among the countries to see quarantine reimposed for travel to the UK. However, flights and train services to Europe continue in spite of changes to FCO advice, says Rory Boland, travel editor at the consumer association, Which? The government uses FCO warnings to stop people going on holiday. But it's increasingly useless. All major airlines now ignore it. Fly, and refuse refunds. Eurostar and ferry the same. If France gets an FCO warning, many people will travel anyway because refund isn't an option. — Rory Boland (@roryboland) August 7, 2020 12:52PM Comment: 'I was one of the tourists denied boarding on a BA flight to Greece amid chaotic scenes at Heathrow' We have previously reported on tourists being refused entry to Greece due to tracking code delays, now Telegraph Travel's Annabel Fenwick Elliott has been caught up in the chaos.  I should be in Greece by now. Instead I was turned away at the British Airways check-in desk at Heathrow yesterday. Why? Because the 'track and trace' QR code one now needs to enter the country had not arrived in time, despite my having an email confirmation from the Greek authorities that said (or seemed to say) that I would be permitted to board. I wasn't the only one. An uneasy queue was assembling at the supervisor's desk of the airline at around 8am in the morning when I arrived to check in for my 10.10 flight to Santorini. Children were crying. Parents were pacing, phones were ringing, sheets of paper clutched in fists.  Read the full story. 12:43PM Scotland to announce further hospitality measures Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that hospitality businesses will now be required to collect and hold customer details, with the rule coming into effect from next Friday. It was previously in the guidelines for businesses to do this, however it will now be on a "statutory footing". The new statutory guidance relating to indoor hospitality will be set out in more detail next week, she said. People should also book tables in advance, there should be no queuing and there should be seating with table service, she added. There should also be no background music or television so that customers don't need to shout and risk spreading the virus.  12:39PM Face masks to be mandatory outdoors in parts of Marseille Wearing face masks will be made compulsory outdoors from August 8 to August 30 in parts of Marseille, France's second-largest city, in an effort contain the spread of the coronavirus, local authorities said today. France has seen a surge in new COVID-19 cases over the past 10 days and Paris is expected to announce similar measures in coming days. 12:31PM 96 per cent of adults wore face coverings in the last week In the past seven days, almost all adults (96 per cent) who had left their homes said they had worn a face covering to slow the spread of the coronavirus – up from 84 per cent last week and 71 per cent the week before. ONS figures show that the proportion of people wearing face coverings outside of their homes varies between England, Scotland and Wales, although all three countries have seen an increase in the reporting of face coverings being worn over the past five weeks. 12:28PM Comment: Forget floating hotels, these ships are made for people who hate cruises The cruise industry has been hit hard by the coronaviurs pandemic with cruise holidays still banned across many countries - the UK Foreign Office maintains a ban on all cruises, with the exemption of river sailings.  However, demand for cruises on smaller ships is on the up, writes Benjamin Parker. Edwina Lonsdale, managing director of Mundy Cruising, told The Telegraph that in the past month, 90 per cent of ocean-going bookings had been for ships carrying fewer than 1,000 passengers, and demand is high for European river cruises on ships carrying no more than 160. But this isn't a knee-jerk reaction to coronavirus; what we are seeing is a long-term pivot of future patterns. The resurrection of Swan Hellenic exemplifies this shift. The original line ceased trading in 2017, but its return in late 2021 was announced last month. While its ships only ever carried a few hundred passengers, its new vessels will take around 150 on voyages. Read the full story. 12:20PM Italian valley evacuated as glacier slips A melting glacier is at risk of breaking apart due to a heatwave, forcing the evacuation of part of an Italian alpine valley, reports Reuters. The alarm was raised on Wednesday when experts in helicopters realised that the Planpincieux glacier, at an altitude of about 2,800 metres in the Ferret Valley in the Mont Blanc massif, was slipping dangerously. A heatwave has created a layer of water under the glacier, which is roughly the size of the Milan cathedral, making it more prone to a break. About 75 residents and tourists in homes or hotels in hamlets in the threatened part of the valley were evacuated and police threw up roadblocks to prevent others from entering. 12:15PM Flights to resume between London City airport and Vilnius  The route between London City airport and Vilnius will resume on August 31, with flights co-funded by the Lithuanian government. Flights between Vilnius and London City were launched in May 2019 but had to be suspended as the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The route will start with 12 flights a week. 12:08PM Drivers passing through Belgium could face quarantine, DfT confirms The Department for Transport has released a statement on the quarantine rules for Belgium, offering some clarity for motorists. It says: If you travelled from Germany or the Netherlands through Belgium, unless all passengers remained in the car and no-one got out or in for the entire time while transiting through Belgium, you need to self-isolate. Those arriving in the UK on a rail journeys that includes a stop in Belgium will also need to self-isolate unless no new passengers boarded the train. As such, Eurostar passengers travelling from Amsterdam to London will need to self-isolate because the journey as includes a change in Brussels. 11:57AM Pakistan to reopen restaurants, cafes, cinemas and beauty parlors  The Pakistani authorities will permit the re-opening of restaurants, cafes, cinemas, beauty parlors and public parks on Monday, facilities which have been shut since March 16. International travel will also return to normal, with social distancing rules implemented. The National Coordination Committee has taken the decision to relax restrictions after the number of new daily cases has plummeted from a peak of over 6,800 in June to fewer than 1,000 in August. 11:55AM Pandemic enables regional airline to secure first Heathrow slot British regional airline Eastern Airways is set to launch a brand-new route from Teesside Airport in the North East to Heathrow, reports The Points Guy. The route, which will be operated by 76-seater Embraer 170, has its inaugural flight scheduled for 14 September. The flight is scheduled to arrive into and depart from Heathrow Terminal 2, however, this could change when Heathrow terminals 3 and 4 reopen. From September 14, the airline will operate four flights a week, building this up gradually until the week of  5 October when there will be a once-daily flight. 11:46AM Holiday quarantine: Which country will be next? Britons hoping to book a last minute overseas holiday could do well to take a look at where infection are rising across Europe.  Belgium has one of the highest rates in Europe at 49.2 per 100,000 people (in the UK it is 14.3 per 100,000). In France, for comparison, the number is 23.4 per 100,000.  We've crunched the numbers to see which country could be the next addition to the UK's "red list". 11:35AM Beachgoers urged to avoid busy spots in south west England this weekend People travelling to south west England are being asked to avoid busy beaches over the weekend. Crowds are expected to flock to the coast as temperatures are forecast to rise to 37C in some areas of the country. The RNLI has called on beachgoers to follow water safety advice and adhere to social distancing.  Kitty Norman, water safety delivery support at the RNLI, said: "The beaches across the whole of the South West are extremely busy at the moment with both locals who are holidaying at home this year and an influx of visitors to the region. The sheer volume of people making social distancing tricky is one thing to be conscious of before planning your trip to the beach." The charity carried out 30 rescues in one day on a single beach in Cornwall last week. These mostly involved swimmers and body boarders caught in rip currents, going out of their depth and being cut off by the incoming tide. 11:26AM Matt Hancock to give local lockdown update for Leicester and Preston Health Secretary Matt Hancock is to give an update on whether further steps need to be taken to stamp out rising cases in parts of the country.  It follows the news that Preston council has told its residents to start following the same restrictions that Greater Manchester and parts of West Yorkshire are following, after official figures showed a spike in cases.  Preston City Council chief executive Adrian Phillips told the BBC: "We are not waiting for some Government announcement. Follow the coronavirus live blog for more. 11:23AM Britons who drive through Belgium may need to self-isolate The BBC's Jessica Parker reports that if you travelled from Germany or the Netherlands through Belgium you need to self-isolate unless all passengers remained in the car and no one got in or out for the entire journey through Belgium.  You also need to self-isolate if new passengers got in the car. UPDATE: Here are the rules if you're driving through Belgium * If you travelled from Germany or the Netherlands through Belgium, unless all passengers remained in the car and no one got out or in for the entire time while transiting through Belgium, you need to self-isolate. — Jessica Parker (@MarkerJParker) August 7, 2020 11:19AM Comment: Life is getting back to normal in Belgium – regardless of what the British think and do Little Belgium is a quarter the size of England and has one-fifth of the population, but it has the unenviable record of the world's highest Covid-related death toll per capita, writes Telegraph Travel's Belgium expert Antony Mason. Belgium's was already marked, you might say, but it was really the uptick in new cases since mid-July that has led Britain (second in that death-toll-per-million league table, by the way) to strike Belgium off the "green list" of countries exempt from 14-day quarantine rule for travellers coming into the UK.  This is a blow to the Belgians, but not altogether a surprise. Faced with rising figures, their government recently reversed some of the "deconfinement rules", for instance reducing from ten to five the number of people from outside one's family social bubble that each person is allowed to meet per week. Belgium went into lockdown at about the same time as the UK, on March 17, with somewhat stricter measures. In these early days, news footage showing uniformed police confronting lone people sitting in the spring sunshine in public places had the air of Tintin-esque absurdity. Now the Belgians are relieved that in general the lockdown has been considerably eased: life seems to be getting back to normal – regardless of what the British think and do. Read the full story.  11:13AM Poland rules out second nationwide lockdown despite cases rising Poland has ruled out a new nationwide lockdown after it reported 809 new coronavirus infections today, the sixth record daily rise in two weeks. According to the health ministry's Twitter account, most of the cases were in and around big cities including the capital Warsaw, Katowice and Krakow. The conservative nationalist government has imposed stricter sanitary rules on a number of Polish counties, which include compulsory wearing of protective face masks outside the home. It has banned conferences, sport events and concerts, closed cinemas and gyms, and imposed a 50-person limit on the number of people taking part in weddings though churches and hotels remain open. 11:00AM Mexico resort pulls controversial 'anything goes' tourism ad  The Mexican coastal city of Acapulco has pulled two controversial video adverts that touted the faded resort's reputation as an "anything goes" tourism destination as they weren't appropriate during the coronavirus pandemic. The governor of the Pacific coast state of Guerrero quickly criticized the adverts, in which tourists are shown going to parties, pools and nightclubs without face masks or social distancing. "We have stopped being a postcard from the past, today we have changed the rules," says a voice-over narration in one of the videos. "In fact, there are no rules," says another voice, as people can be seen eating meals and going out to nightclubs.  10:51AM Watch: Quarantine list 'kept under constant review' as Rishi Sunak warns more countries could be added  10:47AM Seven safer destinations for a last-minute summer holiday As three more countries are added to the UK's quarantine list, which destinations are your best bet for a last-minute summer holiday?  Malta is believed to be in the Government's crosshairs, with its 14-day cumulative number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents currently reading 33 (it is 14.3 for the UK). Visitors to France (23.4), The Netherlands (24) and the Czech Republic (27.8) may be wary, while Sweden (29.7) and Portugal (26.3) are still being snubbed by the FCO.  Nevertheless, there is a clutch of countries with far fewer cases should you fancy a last-minute holiday:  Italy: 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 residents: 6.2 Greece: 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 residents: 8.4 Denmark: 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 residents: 14.4 Norway: 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 residents: 5.8 Slovakia: 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 residents: 6.6 Estonia: 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 residents: 6.6 Latvia: 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 residents: 3.1 We suggest where to stay in each country. 10:38AM Thousands of British Airways staff learn their fate in jobs crisis British Airways has begun telling thousands of staff whether they will lose their jobs as the airline presses on with painful restructuring of operations in response to coronavirus. Cabin and ground crew will be asked to sign up to steep pay cuts, while others will be told that they have been made redundant. A third group will keep their jobs on pre-Covid terms and conditions. More than 6,000 staff have applied for voluntary redundancy, the airline said. Read the full report. 10:35AM Philippines Now Has Worst Covid Outbreak in Southeast Asia Despite imposing the longest, strictest lockdown in Southeast Asia, coronavirus cases in the Philippines have now surged to almost 120,000, eclipsing Indonesia to become the region's biggest outbreak. The country imposed a second lockdown on Manila and nearby areas to curb the spread of infections. After enduring a strict lockdown from mid-March to the end of May, the Philippines re-opened its capital although new cases were still growing by up to a thousand every day. As people returned to offices and families gathered again, infections surged 500 per cent in over two months of easing before the government re-imposed a lockdown this week. 10:20AM Britain set for temperatures of 37C over the weekend The mercury is rising in the UK with temperatures set to reach 37C in some parts of the country this weekend. According to the Met office, the heatwave could last until Sunday. This would mean that parts of Britain could pass the threshold for an 'official heatwave', which requires three days of temperatures over 25C (77F) in different parts of the country. While it may be ideal staycation weather, not everyone finds it easy to cope with such heat. Alice Hall offers eight ways to cope in high temperatures. A couple claimed an early spot on the beach in Margate this morning Credit: Getty 10:11AM India's coronavirus cases surpass 2 million India has seen another large jump in new cases, registering a record daily jump of 62,538 coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours. The rise takes the country's total to 2.03 million, the health ministry said. The country became the third nation to record more than 2 million cases of the virus, behind the United States and Brazil, as infections spread further to smaller towns and rural areas. 10:04AM US issues do not travel advisory for Mexico due to Covid-19 rates The US State department has issued an advisory to citizens to not travel to Mexico, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for the country. On Thursday, the US lifted a global Level 4 health advisory, which had been in place since March 19, that guided US citizens to avoid all international travel. 9:56AM Portugal launches new optional travel insurance for international visitors  Portugal has launched its own brand of coronavirus travel insurance designed to attract British holidaymakers to a country still deemed unsafe by the UK Government. Portugal Travel Insurance, a joint venture by the national tourist board and RNA Assistance Insurance, covers "medical, surgical, pharmaceutical and hospital expenses associated with Covid-19". It also extends to the cost of cancellation, interruption or extension of travel due to the pandemic. "The goal is to ensure all visitors to Portugal that they can travel around the country safely and with confidence," Turismo de Portugal said in a statement.  Starting from €37.20 (£33.50), the insurance offers "complete coverage for unforeseen situations". Portugal has twice been excluded from the UK's 'safe' list, due to its high rate of coronavirus infections, but the country maintains that its numbers are both low and superior to those of the UK.  Any travel to Portugal currently would invalidate most travel insurance policies and requie a two-week quarantine on return to the UK. 9:51AM Hong Kong to offer free Covid testing to residents Hong Kong is to offer free Covid-19 testing for residents, leader Carrie Lam said today. The plan will enable citywide testing for the first time and is likely to be implemented in a fortnight at the earliest, Lam said. The Chinese territory saw a surge in locally-transmitted coronavirus cases at the start of July and introduced a raft of tightening measures, including restricting gatherings to two people and making wearing face masks mandatory in all outdoor public spaces. 9:46AM Britain will not hesitate to add more countries to its quarantine list, says Rishi Sunak Britain will not hesitate to add more countries to its quarantine list, finance minister Rishi Sunak said today when asked about whether France could join Spain on the list. "If we need to take action as you've seen overnight we will of course not hesitate to do that," Sunak told Sky News. He added: "We are doing that to protect people's health but in the meantime people should just continue to look at the guidance and make a decision and take everything into account themselves and make a decision that they think is best."  9:44AM Tourist posing for photo breaks 19th Century Antonio Canova sculpture A tourist has broken the toes off a 200-year-old Italian sculpture.  The man, now identified as Austrian, was posing for a photograph on the statue when the accident happened. The 19th century sculpture by artist Antonio Canova is a plaster cast model, with the marble statue version in Rome. 9:39AM Pandemic derails Japan's plan to revive regions with tourism   It's peak holiday season in Kyoto and scores of international tourists would usually be flocking to its famous temples and filling the city's hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. Yet streets are empty, shops are closed and hotels are struggling to survive as the pandemic shuts out visitors and ravages the economy.  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had sought to revive local economies with an influx of foreign tourists as part of his "Abenomics" stimulus policy. The target was to lure 40 million overseas visitors per year and since the launch of Abenomics in late 2012, the number of overseas visitors rose steadily to exceed 30 million last year, triple the level in 2013. Over 2.7 million visited Japan in January but as the country closed its borders to contain the virus, the flow trickled to a meagre 2,600 in June. 9:30AM British Museum set to welcome visitors on August 27 The British Museum is set to reopen its doors to visitors on August 27. The London venue will have been shut for 163 days by the time it welcomes back visitors, which is the longest peacetime closure in its 261-year history. Visits to the museum will need to be pre-booked and a one-way route will be installed around some of its galleries. 9:24AM Dutch PM urges tourists to avoid busy parts of Amsterdam The Dutch Prime Minister has asked tourists to avoid busy parts of Amsterdam, following a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the Netherlands. Prime Minister Mark Rutte cut short his summer vacation after the National Institute for Health (RIVM) reported 601 new cases on Thursday, from 426 a day earlier, following weeks of gradual increases. "Very specifically for the city of Amsterdam, I say to tourists foreign and domestic, and partly on behalf of the mayor: avoid the busy parts of the city," Rutte told reporters in The Hague. Amsterdam's mayor Femke Halsema began mandating masks in popular areas of the city on Wednesday. 9:15AM Mapped: The 26 countries you can visit right now With Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas off the green list, the holiday map is shrinking. These are the countries that Britons can currently travel to without restriction.  Austria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark  Estonia  Faroe Islands (Visitors required to take Covid-19 test at airport on arrival) France Germany Gibraltar Greece  Iceland (Open to tourists, but all arrivals must choose to pay to be tested for coronavirus or self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. Children born in 2005 or later are exempt) Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Malta  Monaco  Netherlands  Norway Poland San Marino Slovakia  Slovenia  Switzerland Turkey Vatican City Mapped: The 26 countries you can actually visit right now 9:07AM US lifts global health coronavirus travel advisory The US announced last night that it is lifting a global health advisory imposed in March that advised American citizens to avoid all international travel because of the coronavirus pandemic. "With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice," the State Department said in a statement. Parts of Europe, Africa and Asia are now listed at Level 3, for "reconsider travel," while New Zealand, which has essentially eradicated the virus, is listed at Level 2, for "exercise increased caution." China, which has largely brought the virus under control, is still listed as Level 4 -- for "'do not travel -- because of "travel and quarantine restrictions," according to the State Department website. 8:57AM French quarantine weighed up by ministers after infection rate overtakes Portugal France's weekly rate has overtaken that of Portugal, which has reduced its coronavirus cases to the extent that ministers are considering lifting the travel ban on it next week and allowing flights to the country and its islands of the Azores and Madeira. Government sources stressed there was no imminent decision on France as it recorded its highest daily number of new Covid-19 cases in two months, with 1,695 positive tests, slightly fewer than the 1,772 seen in Spain. Read the full story. 8:53AM What happened yesterday?  Before we turn to the latest news, here were the biggest travel stories yesterday: France records two-month high in new cases Switzerland, Norway and Finland expand quarantine list Canary Islands will cover costs if you catch Covid on holiday Holiday prices plummet for trips to Italy and Greece Ryanair faces ban from Italy over 'failure to follow Covid rules' Eurostar relaunches direct service to Disneyland Paris  New York City announces quarantine checkpoints Take a look at yesterday's blog the full details ​Now onto to today.

You are subscribed to email updates from "luxury-india-tours,cheap-sun-holidays,package-holiday-deals-2018" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States