No more amber-list quarantine for double-jabbed Britons; daily cases cross 32,500

BRITON holidaymakers travelling to amber list countries will not have to quarantine on return if they are fully vaccinated, the government has confirmed, as daily new cases crossed 32, 500, something which medics are calling as “unfolding of the third wave”.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps on Thursday (8) announced the forthcoming rule changes, effective from July 19, after the prime minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday (5) that the government will “work with the travel industry towards removing the need for fully vaccinated arrivals to isolate on return from an amber country”.

Shapps told MPs that the under-18s returning from amber list places will also be exempt from quarantine.

Saying that only vaccines given by the NHS will count for the new rule, Shapps added that for fully vaccinated travellers the requirements for green and amber list countries will be the same.

The news comes as cases across the country continue to rise with 32, 548 new cases reported on Wednesday (7) along with 33 new deaths. 

More hospitals and ambulance services are said to be coming under serious pressure in what NHS staff said to believe is “unfolding third wave of Covid”, which they fear will get worse in the next few weeks, media reported.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust,  which runs eight hospitals including Leeds General Infirmary and St James', reportedly had to call off some planned non-urgent operations this week to cope with an influx of patients who have been left seriously ill with Covid.

“Drawing on experience from previous waves of the pandemic we are enacting plans to help us treat increased numbers of Covid admissions while still providing care to those patients waiting for scheduled operations,” Dr Phil Wood, the Leeds trust’s chief medical officer told The Guardian, adding that they had to postpone some planned elective operations to “ensure patients who require urgent treatment are prioritised”.

The REACT study published on Thursday (8) revealed that cases have surged by a factor of four in England since June and they are doubling every six days, suggesting that with daily cases at about 29,000, this may lead to about 120,000 daily cases by the day restrictions are lifted.

About one in 170 people are currently found positive for coronavirus, said the REACT report.