People in England will be fined £200 if they’re caught going on holiday as Germany & Sweden added to quarantine list
PEOPLE in England will be fined £200 if they are caught trying to go on holiday - as Germany and Sweden join the UK quarantine list.
Draconian new measures introduced by Ministers mean heading on a trip away could see people handed a criminal record.
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Repeat offenders could be hit with penalties rising to £6,400 - or a conviction if they challenge it in the courts.
This is in line with any breach of coronavirus laws which, during this second lockdown, bans any travel for holidays.
It comes as Germany and Sweden will be added to the UK's coronavirus quarantine list from Saturday.
Anyone travelling from those two countries who was away before lockdown began will have to isolate for 14 days.
The measures will come into force from 4am on November 7, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Twitter this afternoon.
He added no countries were being put onto the list of travel corridors - from which Brits do not have to self-isolate upon returning home.
The Department for Transport said: "Germany and Sweden have been removed from the list of UK travel corridors, having been assessed by the Joint Biosecurity Centre as posing a heightened infection risk.
"Passengers arriving into the UK from Germany and Sweden from 4am on Saturday November 7, 2020, will need to self-isolate for two weeks before then following domestic rules.
"The Government's travel corridor policy remains a critical part of the Government's Covid-19 response as it mitigates the risk of importing infections from abroad; this has not changed following the introduction of new restrictions in England."
It comes as:
- England went into a second national lockdown today - with non-essential shops, restaurants, gyms and pubs closed
- The PM gave a national update with a press conference at 5pm today with Simon Stevens from the NHS
- The Bank of England today pumped £150billion more into the economy through quantitive easing - and said the economy would take a 2% GDP hit as a result of more lockdown rules
- Stats bosses bashed the Government's scientific advisers for their use of data during the Covid-19 outbreak - as MPs demanded they get access to more vital health information
It comes as England was plunged into another lockdown after the PM ordered the country to "stay at home" for four weeks.
Brits are only allowed to leave home for school, work, medical reasons, exercise, shopping or providing care to the vulnerable.
Pubs and restaurants have closed, but are allowed to continue doing takeaways and deliveries.
International travel is banned during the lockdown period - except for work purposes.
Boris Johnson today promised a four-week lockdown is enough to tackle the coronavirus as he confirmed a fresh plan to save Christmas.
He addressed the nation at a press conference hours after the country went into the fresh lockdown.
Mr Johnson told the nation: "These measures, though tough, are time limited.
"Four weeks is enough for these measures to make a real impact. There is light at the end of the tunnel."
And he said ministers were examining plans for a "joint approach to the Christmas period so that families can come together wherever they live".
He stressed we have to have a national lockdown to "get the R rate down" again but he was confident it was achievable.
Rishi Sunak has extended furlough again through to the end of March 2021, he revealed today.
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The Chancellor confirmed people will get 80 per cent of their pay - after the scheme was continued as a result of the England-wide lockdown.
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It means that the scheme will have run for nearly a year by the time it is scheduled to come to an end, and cost billions of pounds extra.
And it's a sign that ministers think the light at the end of the tunnel won't come until the spring - and there's a grim winter ahead for the nation.
