Ο Simon Calder είναι ειδικός επί των θεμάτων τουρισμού και ταξιδίων στην Βρετανία και αρθρογραφεί στον Independent. Χθες λοιπόν μέσω της ιστοσελίδας αυτής απάντησε σε ερωτήσεις αναγνωστών που επιθυμούν να ταξιδέψουν το επόμενο διάστημα για διακοπές
Ας δούμε μία σημαντική ερώτηση & την απάντηση που έδωσε:
Q: My family and I are booked to go to Corfu on 20 July until 6 August. Do you know where I can access the 14-day cases/100,000 statistic for the individual islands,. And in your learned opinion, would we be better off moving to August to stand a much better chance of Corfu being on the green list?
Tweaky Austin
A: I follow A to Z Guides, which has regular updates of case numbers on the Greek islands – showing, for example, that 43 cases were recently confirmed on Crete compared with just 16 on Corfu. But since Crete has six times as many inhabitants as Corfu, it is doing relatively better. However, while I regularly study the numbers I do not ascribe particular powers to them. And I suggest you don’t torture yourself with peering through the data for individual islands: it is likely to be disregarded anyway.
As a reminder, Greece and almost everywhere else in Europe is on the “amber list,” requiring 10 days of self-isolation on return to the UK.
Nearby Turkey and Egypt are on the “red list,” with hotel quarantine mandatory of 11 nights mandatory for anyone arriving in the UK.
Among European countries, only Iceland and Gibraltar are on the green list and accessible.
The next decision days for switching the “traffic light” assignments are 24 June, 15 July and 5 August – the day before you are due to return. I think there is a vanishingly small chance that the green list will be significantly increased on 24 June. Since the government will have just postponed the planned domestic opening in the UK I predict it will ignore the data that indicates (for example) Malta should be on the green list – and will be a much safer place to be than the UK.
On 15 July Malta and some other islands may be added to the green list (possibly including a sprinkling of Greek isles), with an outside chance that Portugal could be readmitted.
But 5 August will be the big one. By then almost all adults will have had at least one jab, while infection rates across Europe will be far lower. I would be surprised if Corfu were not green-listed by then. If it makes the cut on 5 August but the change takes effect only a few days later, you might be in the awkward position of having to delay your return home.
Remember this is all speculation. But certainly, the later you travel this summer, the more likely it is that restrictions will be eased.
