England is poised to impose quarantine restrictions on arrivals from Belgium and Luxembourg in response to increasing cases of the coronavirus in those countries, according to the Times.
Travelers from Belgium and Luxembourg could all face quarantine measures as soon as Thursday on their return to England under plans being discussed in Whitehall, the Times writes, with Croatia also on a watch-list. This follows the U.K.’s decision to reimpose quarantine restrictions on arrivals from Spain over the weekend, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggesting on Tuesday that some countries in continental Europe could be headed for a second wave of coronavirus infections.
A U.K. government official confirmed to POLITICO’s London Playbook Wednesday morning that Belgium and Luxembourg are “countries of concern,” while Croatia is on a watch-list, and did not dispute the Times story.
The official would not comment on the timing of any new restrictions, but warned: “As with Spain, if we see an impending problem, we aren’t just going to sit on our hands and ‘wait and see,’ as some seem to think we should have done — we will act. If you spot smoke, you don’t sit around until you see fire. You act fast.”
Johnson on Tuesday flagged that other countries could be added to the U.K.’s quarantine list. “I’m afraid if we do see signs of a second wave in other countries it is really our job, our duty, to act swiftly and decisively to stop … travelers coming back from those places seeding the disease here in the U.K.,” he said.