Portugal green list decision ‘could be political retaliation’ says infection expert

‘It potentially is also a little bit politically motivated, seeing that many European countries have put the UK on the quarantine list’

Portugal will be moved to the amber list from 4am on Tuesday (AFP via Getty Images)

Moving Portugal from the green to the amber travel list could be ‘“politically motivated,” an infection expert has said.

Arrivals from the popular holiday destination will be made to quarantine from 4am on Tuesday as Portugal moves lists, a decision which caused outrage among both the public and members of the travel industry.

According to the UK’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, the move was made due to a rising number of cases in the country and apparent detection of a “Nepal mutation.”

Dr Christine Tait-Burkard, an expert in infection and immunity at the University of Edinburgh, suggested however that the decision could have been made as “retaliation” in response to European countries requiring Britons to quarantine upon arrival.

When asked whether or not moving Portugal to the amber list was a necessary measure, Dr Tait-Burkard said: “Not necessarily in terms of case levels.

“Portugal is still very similar to the UK actually, and so that means the actual risk of going to the country is not necessarily higher than staying in the UK.

“What has made the decision to some extent is that Portugal now also has the Delta variant.

“We should probably not be surprised, given that British tourists went there and we have a large number of Delta variant cases.

“There’s also concern about a so-called Nepal variant which is kind of a mix of the Delta variants and the Kent (Alpha) variant.”

Dr Tait-Burkard went on to mention how, once again, the announcement had been “very last-minute” and added that there could be “a little bit of political retaliation behind that as well.”

Speaking on the BBC Good Morning Scotland programme, she added: “It potentially is also a little bit politically motivated, seeing that many European countries have put the UK on the quarantine list.”

On Thursday afternoon, the UK government announced changes to the travel list. Seven countries have been added to the red list. These are Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Portugal meanwhile said that they could not understand why the country had been moved from the green to the amber list. A post on Twitter from the country’s foreign affairs ministry said that they “cannot understand” the “logic” of the decision.

They tweeted in both Portuguese and English: “We take note of the British decision to remove Portugal from the travel “green list,” the logic of which we cannot understand.

“Portugal continues to carry out its prudent and gradual deconfinement plan, with clear rules for the safety of those who live here and those who visit us.”

Portugal’s seven-day rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people is currently at 37.2, up from 30.7 a week earlier. The figure in the UK is currently slightly lower at 28.6.

The news comes as the UK government announced that a further 5,274 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus had been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Thursday. This is the highest single-day figure seen since 26 March.

The green list is due to be reviewed again in three weeks time on 28 June.