Portugal's Covid-19 cases surpass UK Government threshold for quarantine

There were 21.1 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Portugal in the seven days to Sunday, August 30, up from 19.4 in the seven days to Saturday, August 29 – according to figures from the Press Association.

A seven-day rate of 20 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people is the threshold above which the UK Government considers triggering quarantine conditions.

Searches for flights to Portugal soared after the country was removed from the UK’s quarantine list just over a week ago.

Passengers arriving in the UK from Portugal no longer had to self-isolate from 4am on Saturday, August 22 after an approved travel corridor was confirmed.

Google search data showed a significant spike in searches for the term “flights to Portugal” by users in the UK at around 6pm on Thursday August 20, the day the news about Portugal was announced.

A number of easyJet flights from London airports to destinations across Portugal on the weekend of August 22 were already unavailable on the Friday.

Jet2 was among the airlines aiming to capitalise on the rush, adding extra seats to Faro from Monday, August 24 from across the UK.

Travellers returning from Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic were the latest to be told they must quarantine for 14 days if they were arriving in the UK after 4am on August 29 following spikes in coronavirus infection rates.

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