Jeremy Vine caller criticises green list travel advice
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A flaw in the Government’s rules on international travel has been pointed out by an audience member calling into Jeremey Vine on 5. While the show’s panel discussed the countries on the UK’s green list, the caller pointed out that while countries such as Singapore may be included, people travelling from Britain may not be allowed in. There are currently 12 countries on the green list, which also includes Portugal and Israel, but coronavirus restrictions for international travel vary widely.
Discussing the countries on the green list, caller Jayne said: “I wouldn’t go to any of them, to be honest.
“I’ve been vaccinated twice now, I’m ok that way.
“But the reason I rang in is because of Singapore on the green list. My daughter lives in Singapore.”
Host Jeremy Vine responded “Yes, you’re right, and they’ve done quite well haven’t they?”
“Well up until this last couple of weeks,” the caller replied. “They are now in lockdown.”
Jayne continued: “And I don’t know if you realise but Singapore is particularly strict.
“I mean it’s supposed to be a beautiful place but it’s just the severity of it. All the schools are shut.”
While many countries have struggled to cope with coronavirus in the past several months, Singapore has managed to suppress the number of its cases to a weekly average of single and double-digit figures since August 2020.
However, cases in Singapore have risen recently, with 248 recorded last week.
While still relatively low compared with many other countries, Singapore has kept a tight control on restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“This is what’s happening now,” the caller said.
She added: “So people, they might think they can go but they will not be allowed in.”
Confusion over the UK Government’s traffic light system of green, amber, and red countries has been added to by the fact that government guidance and rules abroad do not always match up.
The EU is expected to announce later this week that non-essential travel will be allowed from people from non-EU countries that have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
However, all EU countries excluding Portugal remain on the amber list, meaning that Britons are advised not to travel there, even if they are accepting international travel.
Further confusion has arisen as while UK residents can legally travel to amber countries, the official government guidance is not to do so.
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