- Title: English tourists rush back from Portugal to dodge COVID-19 quarantine
- Date: 11th September 2020
- Summary: LISBON, PORTUGAL (SEPTEMBER 11, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING AT CHECK-IN DESK JEREMY MOORE STANDING IN CHECK-IN QUEUE WITH HIS WIFE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLISH TOURIST, JEREMY MOORE, SAYING: "My honest view is that the British are very arrogant. If you want my honest opinion, the hygiene and sense of social responsibility is much stricter here than in the UK
- Embargoed: 25th September 2020 11:16
- Keywords: Coronavirus England safe travel list Portugal airport coronavirus travel safe list travel quarantine travel restirctions
- Location: LISBON, PORTUGAL
- City: LISBON, PORTUGAL
- Country: Portugal
- Topics: Europe,Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001CV8VQKN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Frustrated travellers rushed home to England cutting short summer holidays in sunny Portugal on Friday (September 11) to avoid a mandatory quarantine re-imposed by London as coronavirus cases in the southern European nation continued to rise.
British authorities announced on Thursday (September 10) anybody arriving in England from Portugal, excluding the Azores and Madeira archipelagos, after 4 a.m. on Saturday will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
"It's typical British arrogance," English tourist Jeremy Moore told Reuters as he waited at the check-in queue at Lisbon airport. "If you want my honest opinion, the hygiene and sense of social responsibility is much stricter here than in the UK, much, much stricter."
Portugal only spent three weeks off England's self-quarantine isolation rule but a rise in coronavirus cases forced British authorities to re-impose it, British authorities said.
Home to 10 million people, Portugal initially won praise for its response to the pandemic but cases have crept back up, with the health authority reporting on Thursday 585 new infections.
British ambassador to Portugal Chris Sainty said on Twitter he understood that the quarantine rule, which hit the tourism-dependent country hard, was "disruptive" but said the government took the decision to protect public health.
Angered by the announcement, Portugal's Economy Minister Pedro Siza Vieira said late on Thursday the decision could strain the relationship between the two countries.
(Production: Miguel Pereira, Catarina Demony) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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