LIVE | Brits furious at France’s strict travel policy | Inland

• ANWB expected more unlucky ones on the road through corona
• In one go to Italy: ‘You’re already too late before the test result is in the app’
• Greek media: full vaccination now also mandatory on part terraces
• To Spain without a shot or test proof: ‘We just take the risk’

14.01 – Brits furious over France travel policy

The British government has provoked the ire of holidaymakers and the travel industry by enforcing quarantine rules for France. The rule that Britons must be quarantined at home for ten days after a trip will expire on Monday for many popular holiday destinations, but it was decided at the last minute that France would not be covered.

That decision has to do with concerns about the spread of the so-called beta variant of the corona virus in France. This variant was first discovered in South Africa and is rare in the United Kingdom. The BBC writes that it is feared that vaccines will not work as well against that mutant.

Due to the corona crisis, the British government has created a ‘traffic light system’ with three color codes for countries: green, amber and red. Fully vaccinated Britons will no longer have to be quarantined at home after a trip to a country that turns amber (a kind of orange / yellow) from Monday.

France remains at ‘amber’, but is the only country outside this relaxation. It is a kind of compromise because, according to a source of the Guardian newspaper, ministers went too far to put France on the ‘red list’ of high-risk countries. Then travel would have been severely restricted and that could have had serious political and diplomatic consequences.

Holidaymakers are complaining in British media about the sudden policy change and the travel industry is also unhappy about the exceptional position of France, which is popular among tourists. EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren complained that the government is “pulling the carpet” among Britons who are on holiday in France or who have already booked a trip.

Lundgren said the traffic light system is of little value if the government is constantly improvising. He said this creates “confusion and uncertainty.” IATA director of the airline industry, Willie Walsh, accused the government of “destroying its own travel industry and the thousands of jobs that depend on it.”

The unrest illustrates that countries with high vaccination rates are also struggling with travel policies for their citizens during the holiday season. Health Minister Sajid Javid said it has always been clear that the government is ready to intervene quickly at the border to “protect the successes we have had with our successful vaccination policy.”

The British government formally only decides on the rules that travelers in England have to comply with, because autonomous regions have a say over their travel policy. Scotland and Northern Ireland have not yet said whether they will also take over the exceptional position for France, according to Sky News.

09.24 – The number of corona cases in nursing homes is also starting to increase

The new wave of corona cases mainly affects young people, but the virus is slowly but surely starting to penetrate into nursing homes. The number of positive tests among the elderly there is increasing, although it is still limited for the time being. The residents are most at risk from an infection and were therefore one of the first groups to be vaccinated at the beginning of this year.

The outlier was last Wednesday. Then 25 residents of nursing homes tested positive. That is the highest number since May 5, so more than two months ago. That figure is not complete, because reports can be delayed, so the number could still rise. In the past week, 61 residents have tested positive, an average of almost nine a day and that is the highest level since the end of May.

The number of nursing home locations affected by the coronavirus is also increasing. At least 36 locations had at least one positive test among residents in the last four weeks, the highest number in almost a month. In the four weeks to last Monday, there were 24 locations with a recent positive test. Compared to the peak, these are all still small numbers. At the beginning of January, 850 to 900 locations had a recent positive test, which amounts to more than a third of all nursing homes in the Netherlands.

The association of specialists in geriatric medicine, Verenso, recognizes the increase. “The infections are increasing slightly, but are still limited to the total number of residents,” says director Nanda Hauet. According to her, the increase is to be expected. “A nursing home is part of society. If the number of cases in society goes up, so will the infections in the nursing home.” Many residents have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, as have some of the employees. “But that does not yet apply to all visitors or, for example, to young holiday workers,” says Hauet.

The corona vaccines cannot prevent every infection. But the vaccinated residents who now test positive, according to Hauet, appear less ill than before the vaccinations.

The number of deaths among residents remains low for the time being. Only six deaths have been recorded in the past month, the last of which was over a week ago. Around the turn of the year, more than fifty residents died a day, and in the first wave there were days when more than eighty nursing home residents died.

09.10 – WHO: Dutch people, be careful on holiday

A top adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) calls on the Dutch to be careful when they go on holiday. Catherine Smallwood says in an interview with the AD that countries where many people have already been vaccinated, such as the Netherlands, have a special responsibility. “Those countries must not become the source of the spread of the disease.”

WHO official Smallwood tells the newspaper that the Dutch can go on holiday “of course”, but does ask people to think about the risks because of the corona pandemic. “If you have to spend twenty hours in a crowded bus, that risk is much greater than when you travel in your own car.”

According to the ‘senior emergency officer’ of the European branch of the WHO, tourists would also do well to look at their surroundings: “Is it narrow and enclosed, or is there sufficient ventilation? Are you going hiking in the mountains or are you going to a big music festival with a lot of people?”

Smallwood emphasizes to the AD that there are still “significant risks” associated with travel for people who have not been fully vaccinated. The risk is lower for people who have been fully vaccinated. “As much as we would like to, the virus has not gone away. There is still a lot of virus in the European region and the trends are really not looking good.”

The top official explains that the Delta variant of the virus is spreading rapidly throughout the European region “That variant has become dominant in many countries in Europe, including the Netherlands.” Smallwood says in the paper that the biggest impacts will be seen in countries with low vaccination coverage. “We are really concerned about that.”

08.10 – Government took into account the release of detainees due to corona

At the start of the corona pandemic in March 2020, the Dutch government took into account that prisoners had to be released. Unrest and deaths in the prisons were also part of the corona emergency scenarios, the NOS reports, which requested documents from the Custodial Institutions Service.

The service bought 1,500 extra anklets to monitor detainees in case they were forced to be sent home due to corona. “The calculation takes as a fictitious starting point that 80 percent of the sentence must have been served,” one of the documents states.

In the end, 175 inmates who had almost served their sentences and who had already spent a large part of the time outside the institution did not have to return to their cells. To prevent them from bringing the virus with them, they were given longer leave with an ankle bracelet. There was no need to release other detainees earlier.

Half of the anklets are still being used, the other half is on the shelf. DJI tries to sell the remaining tires again. In this way, the organization hopes to recoup part of the costs incurred (a total of about one and a half million euros).

07.02 – Pilgrimage to Mecca starts, only for vaccinated people

The traditional Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, begins on Saturday in Saudi Arabia. Due to the corona crisis, 60,000 people will be allowed to participate in the pilgrimage this year, provided they are vaccinated against the virus. Only Saudi citizens and Muslims living in Saudi Arabia and between the ages of 18 and 65 are allowed to participate.

The Hajj, which runs through July 22 this year, is mandatory for any sane Muslim who can afford the trek. Last year, only 10,000 pilgrims were admitted, from Saudi Arabia alone. In 2019, 2.5 million believers went to Mecca. 1.8 million of them came from abroad.

You can read yesterday’s blog below.

–