Britain adds Belgium to travel quarantine list

By William James

LONDON (Reuters) - Passengers arriving into Britain from Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra will need to quarantine for 14 days due to concerns over rising COVID-19 infection rates, transport minister Grant Shapps said on Thursday.

The announcement comes as ministers try to prevent arrivals from infection hotspots adding to numbers of new cases which are also rising in Britain.

"Data shows we need to remove Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas from our list of #coronavirus Travel Corridors in order to keep infection rates DOWN," Shapps wrote on Twitter.

"If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday (0300 GMT) from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days."

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has designated all Belgium as a "code orange" for the new coronavirus, meaning the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants is 20 or above for two weeks.

Despite thousands of Britons holidaying overseas after months of lockdown, the government has already reimposed quarantine on arrivals from Spain and Luxembourg.

Britain's inclusion of Belgium follows similar steps by Estonia, Ireland, Latvia and Norway. Belgium last month introduced new restrictions on social contact to try to contain the spread of the virus.

Separately, Britain's transport department also announced that Malaysia and Brunei have been added to the UK's safe list.

(Editing by Stephen Addison)