France, Netherlands added to UK's 14-day quarantine list

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers on Friday faced the prospect of having to go into self-isolation for 14 days when they return home after the British government reimposed quarantine restrictions on France following a recent pick-up in coronavirus infections.

In an announcement late Thursday, the government said France is being removed from the list of nations exempted from quarantine requirements because of rising coronavirus infections, which have surged by 66% in the past week. The Netherlands, Malta, Monaco and the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Turks & Caicos are also being added to the quarantine list.

The requirement to spend 14 days in self-isolation will apply to anyone returning to the U.K. after 4 a.m. local time on Saturday, a timeframe that may prompt many — particularly those who cannot work from home — to try to return before then.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the decision shouldn't have come as a big surprise given that the government has consistently said it will continue to monitor infection rates when assessing its list of safe countries.

“Unfortunately, this virus doesn’t play ball,” he told Sky News. "So people will look at their own situations. I think a lot of people would have been aware that this was a possibility in France and in some of these other countries.”

Any rush back is likely to be most prominent in France, the second-most popular holiday destination for British tourists after Spain, which was put on the quarantine list last month. Travel companies are urging anyone considering a swift return home to check whether they will be able to do so.

Getlink, which operates the Channel Tunnel rail service linking Britain and France, warned travelers that they may not be able to get back...