People arriving to the UK from Belgium must self-isolate for
14 days from 0400 BST on Saturday, according to a government announcement.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said last night that Wales
had implemented the change from midnight on Thursday following a rise in coronavirus
cases within Belgium. The change also applies to arrivals from the Bahamas and
Andorra, and the Foreign Office is also warning against all but essential
travel to the three countries.
The announcement gives travellers slightly more warning than
they had when quarantine rules were reintroduced for Spain and Luxembourg last
month.
People found to be breaking quarantine within two weeks of
arriving from certain countries face a fine of up to ?1,000 in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland, and ?480 in Scotland, with fines of up to ?5,000 for
repeat offenders.
Belgium has introduced new restrictions on the number of
people residents can interact with outside of their household in an effort to
stop the surge in cases. The government also mandated the wider use of face
masks in public and is now requiring bars and restaurants to keep contact
details of customers for tracing purposes.
There are fears quarantine measures could be reintroduced
for more countries in the coming weeks after UK prime minister Boris Johnson
warned there are ¡°signs of a second wave¡± of Covid-19 in Europe. France, which
is still on the quarantine-free list, has recently experienced a surge in cases.
Meanwhile, Brunei and Malaysia were added to the list of
travel corridors following a decrease in cases, meaning people will no longer
have to go into quarantine on arrival from those areas starting at 0400 on 18
August.