Covid: Call for Wales to follow England's quarantine travel rules

Travel agents and tour operators in Wales want the Welsh government to follow England and adopt the same rules affecting international travellers.

UK residents who have had both doses of the Covid vaccine returning from amber list destinations will no longer have to isolate in England from 19 July.

But Health Minister Eluned Morgan said she was concerned new Covid variants could come into the UK from abroad.

She said advice in Wales was to avoid all but essential overseas travel.

"We will be looking at that situation in the next few days to determine our response," she said, referring to the revised plans over the border.

"We have grave concerns about the situation where people are receiving a message that, if you're double vaccinated, you are in a situation where you are invulnerable and that is certainly not the message we want to give to the Welsh public."

Travel agent Sue Glen said she had seen an influx of enquiries from people in Wales hoping to travel in the autumn and winter while her customers in England were booking holidays over the summer.

She also said many in Wales had their "fingers crossed" the Welsh government would follow the rule changes affecting travellers from England.

"It needs to be the same guidance - it's complicated enough," said Ms Glen, a self-employed travel agent based in Builth Wells, Powys.

"It's nonsensical not to have to follow the same rules. A lot of Welsh travellers will travel out using English airports. Going forward, a united approach is far more practical."

Northern Ireland will follow England in removing quarantine rules for fully vaccinated people travelling to and from amber list countries from 26 July, while Wales - like Scotland - has not yet decided whether to do the same.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is "carefully considering" what to do while the Welsh government said it was considering the proposal with a further review on easing more lockdown restrictions expected on Wednesday.

France, Italy, the United States, mainland Spain and Portugal are among the countries on the UK amber list.

Wales has the lowest Covid case rates of the UK nations and its vaccination rates are among the best in the world.

Travel operator Edwards Coaches, based in Rhondda Cynon Taf, has not taken customers into Europe since Christmas 2019, although its foreign holidays usually account for 30% in sales worth £2.5m.

Managing director Jason Edwards said the Welsh government should "take confidence and follow suit" with the advice changing to allow English travellers to visit amber list countries and return without self-isolating.

"We need a consistent message between the UK and Welsh government," he said.

Currently, anyone returning from amber or red list countries must isolate for 10 days, regardless of their vaccine status.

The Welsh government's quarantine policy has differed from the UK government's in England for a period last year, but more recently has been broadly the same.

But ministers in Wales have continued to advise against all but essential travel overseas.

A review of Covid-19 restrictions in Wales will be made the week starting 12 July.

"People are confused," said Suzanne Cumpston, from Sam Smith Travel in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan.

"The whole point of the traffic light system was for the United Kingdom but we are not being very united."

She also said there were "fingers crossed" that the Welsh government would follow suit with its lockdown rules due to be reviewed next week.

"We need to be aligned," she added.

Anna Reed, director at Ocky White Travel in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, said there was "utter confusion" among people in Wales wanting to book holidays, due to the number of Covid tests required before and after travelling overseas, along with the necessary paperwork.

"They are not committing to anything because of all the rules in place," said Ms Reed.

She said while changes in the rules for travellers in England had prompted more enquiries from people in Wales, they had not yet made any "commitment".

Russell George MS, Welsh Conservative spokesperson for health, said: "So that everyone knows what the rules are and can abide by them, there should be one policy across the UK on who has to quarantine based on their vaccination status."

Health Minister Ms Morgan said there was a possibility that overseas travel could be "the route through which we will see new [coronavirus] variants that could possibly evade our vaccinations".

"I think people need to understand that actually, it is still a very precarious situation," she added.