Higher coronavirus infection rates in the popular holiday destinations of Spain, Portugal and France should rule out their inclusion on a “green list” of safe countries for unrestricted travel, a leading virologist said. The Government plans to ease travel restrictions to and from some countries with the publication of a list of countries on Monday with similar coronavirus infection rates to Ireland. The 14-day cumulative number of coronavirus infections stood on Friday at 4.3 per 100,000 people for Ireland compared with 17.7 for Spain, 11.1 for France, 48.5 for Portugal and 27.6 for Croatia. Several countries on the draft list are unlikely to be considered attractive holiday destinations and some will be significant distances from Ireland. Infection rates in Italy and Greece were on Friday only marginally higher than in Ireland.

Source: The Irish Times July 17, 2020 23:03 UTC