UK government decision to allow in 1,000 football fans from Italy
Many scientists are worried that the government’s plan to lift most curbs in England on July 19, and the green light to a large presence at the football final, will see new outbreaks of COVID-19.
The U.K. government said Friday it expected to announce a plan in the next fortnight allowing entry to fully vaccinated foreigners and British expatriates.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also defended the government’s decision to allow in 1,000 football fans from Italy for Sunday’s European Championship final against England, to join some 60,000 other supporters.
The announcement makes summer travel easier to some of Britons’ favourite holiday destinations, including France, Greece and Spain.
The announcement makes summer travel easier to some of Britons’ favourite holiday destinations, including France, Greece and Spain.
But the plan is limited to travellers who received their vaccinations through the U.K.’s health service, excluding British expatriates and foreigners jabbed abroad, triggering criticism from expats in particular.
Shapps said widening the scheme to expats and other travellers from overseas was “something we are very actively working on at the moment”.
The minister said he expected “in the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to come forward and say more about other locations in the world”.
Britain recorded 32,551 Covid cases on Thursday as infections surge owing to the more contagious Delta variant. The Immigration Services Union said its border staff would still have to cross-check the data, and that faster e-gates were not installed at all points of entry.