The government should be more transparent about why it restricts pandemic travel to some countries and not others, Tony Blair’s think tank has said.
A new report calls for “clear and transparent criteria” under which countries could be assessed by, and for the introduction of a “traffic light” system to make it clearer where is safe to visit.
It comes after the government was criticised for the manner in which it reintroduced quarantine restrictions on Spain, at such short notice that even the transport secretary Grant Shapps was caught off guard.
Download the new Independent Premium app
Sharing the full story, not just the headlines
The new report’s authors argue that reforming the way the government deals with quarantine requirements for different countries would give people more confidence to travel to places where it is safe, while protecting public health.
They warn that without a vaccine, all sectors including travel will have to “learn to live” with Covid-19 and make adaptions.
“Travel is responsible for one in ten jobs around the world but quarantine measures risk grinding the industry to a halt,” said Ryan Wain, strategic advisor at the Tony Blair Institute.
“This doesn’t have to be the case. Testing after five days of arrival can reduce quarantine periods in the UK and abroad, while a traffic-light system indicating a country’s ‘Covid status’ would provide welcome foresight for travellers planning their trips.
“Ultimately, this is about learning to live with Covid-19 and wherever possible the government should adopt measures that protect public health but allow some level of normality.”
Under the traffic-light system, countries could be rated green, meaning that travel would be allowed without quarantine requirements and that this situation would be unlikely to change soon, while an amber rating also indicates that unrestricted travel is allowed, but that the situation might change soon. Red-rated countries would have full quarantine requirements in place.
1/50 3 August 2020
A general view shows the new road bridge in Genoa, Italy ahead of its official inauguration, after it was rebuilt following its collapse on August 14, 2018 which killed 43 people
Reuters
2/50 2 August 2020
Empty stall spaces are seen hours before a citywide curfew is introduced in Melbourne, Australia
EPA
3/50 1 August 2020
People take part in a demonstration by the initiative “Querdenken-711” with the slogan “the end of the pandemic – the day of freedom” to protest against the current measurements to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Berlin, Germany
AFP via Getty
4/50 31 July 2020
Pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the Grand mosque in Mecca. Muslim pilgrims converged today on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat for the climax of this year’s hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years
Saudi Ministry of Media/AFP
5/50 30 July 2020
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission lifts off at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The mission is part of the USA’s largest moon to Mars exploration. Nasa will attempt to establish a sustained human presence on and around the moon by 2028 through their Artemis programme
EPA
6/50 29 July 2020
A woman refreshes herself in a outdoor pool in summer temperatures in Ehingen, Germany
dpa via AP
7/50 28 July 2020
Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak speaks to the media after he was found guilty in his corruption trial in Kuala Lumpur
AFP via Getty
8/50 27 July 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses for a photograph after conferring commemorative pistols to leading commanding officers of the armed forces on the 67th anniversary of the “Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War”. Which marks the signing of the Korean War armistice
KCNA via Reuters
9/50 26 July 2020
Federal officers launch tear gas at a group of demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest outside the Portland Courthouse
AP
10/50 25 July 2020
Rescue forces in action after an ultralight aircraft crashed into a house in Wesel, Germany
EPA
11/50 24 July 2020
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the official opening ceremony of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty
12/50 23 July 2020
Federal officers arrest a protester after she crossed a fence line set up around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon. State and city elected officials have called for the federal officers to leave Portland as clashes between protesters and federal police continue to escalate
Getty
13/50 22 July 2020
Fire burns near the village of Galataki as authorities evacuate the place near Corinth, Greece. More than 250 firefighters, backed by water-dropping aircraft, were struggling Wednesday to contain a large wildfire fanned by strong winds that has forced the evacuation of five settlements in southern Greece
AP
14/50 21 July 2020
A Black Lives Matter protester carries an American flag as teargas fills the air outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon
AP
15/50 20 July 2020
A trader decorates a camel with Henna at a cattle market set up for the upcoming Muslim festival Eid al-Adha also called “Festival of the Sacrifice”, in Rawalpindi
AFP via Getty
16/50 19 July 2020
The Milky Way galaxy is seen in the sky above the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada. The roadside attraction, created in 2002 by Mark Rippie, has over 36 automobiles including cars, trucks, vans and buses that have been balanced on their ends or stacked on top one of another
AFP via Getty
17/50 18 July 2020
Revellers take part in the annual Gay Pride parade, also called Christopher Street Day in Frankfurt
Reuters
18/50 17 July 2020
Airplanes of the Scandinavian Airshow draw a heart in the sky, above the Turning Torso building in Malmo, Sweden
TT News Agency/Reuters
19/50 16 July 2020
Farmers protest outside the Indonesian Parliament against the cancellation of an ‘omnibus bill’ that aims to revise dozens of existing laws to ease the way for investment in Southeast Asia’s largest economy in Jakarta
Reuters
20/50 15 July 2020
Flooding in Sunamganj. Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade
AFP via Getty
21/50 14 July 2020
Second Republican infantry guard regiment take part in the annual Bastille Day military ceremony on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
AFP via Getty
22/50 13 July 2020
A man walks his dog through thick sea foam blowing ashore during a storm in Seapoint, Cape Town, South Africa
EPA
23/50 12 July 2020
Security forces on the outskirts of Amritsar take part in Van Mahotsav, an annual tree-planting festival in India
AFP via Getty
24/50 11 July 2020
People covered with coloured powder enjoy music during the Holi festival in Minsk, Belarus
EPA
25/50 10 July 2020
A demonstrator during clashes following the funeral of 29-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim Abou Yacoub, who was killed by Israeli forces, in the village of Kifl Hares, south of the West Bank city of Nablus
AFP via Getty
26/50 9 July 2020
The sun rises in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany
AP
27/50 8 July 2020
Portraits of healthcare workers are pasted on the Opera Bastille, designed by Anne-Christine Poujoulat, to pay tribute to caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Paris
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty
28/50 7 July 2020
Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
29/50 6 July 2020
A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
30/50 5 July 2020
People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
31/50 4 July 2020
Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
32/50 3 July 2020
A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
33/50 2 July 2020
A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
34/50 1 July 2020
A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
35/50 30 June 2020
A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
36/50 29 June 2020
Lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
37/50 28 June 2020
Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil’s National Congress
Getty
38/50 27 June 2020
A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
39/50 26 June 2020
Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
40/50 25 June 2020
A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
41/50 24 June 2020
A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
42/50 23 June 2020
Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
43/50 22 June 2020
A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
44/50 21 June 2020
Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
45/50 20 June 2020
National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
46/50 19 June 2020
Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
47/50 18 June 2020
Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
48/50 17 June 2020
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
49/50 16 June 2020
Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
50/50 15 June 2020
Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
1/50 3 August 2020
A general view shows the new road bridge in Genoa, Italy ahead of its official inauguration, after it was rebuilt following its collapse on August 14, 2018 which killed 43 people
Reuters
2/50 2 August 2020
Empty stall spaces are seen hours before a citywide curfew is introduced in Melbourne, Australia
EPA
3/50 1 August 2020
People take part in a demonstration by the initiative “Querdenken-711” with the slogan “the end of the pandemic – the day of freedom” to protest against the current measurements to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Berlin, Germany
AFP via Getty
4/50 31 July 2020
Pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the Grand mosque in Mecca. Muslim pilgrims converged today on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat for the climax of this year’s hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years
Saudi Ministry of Media/AFP
5/50 30 July 2020
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission lifts off at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The mission is part of the USA’s largest moon to Mars exploration. Nasa will attempt to establish a sustained human presence on and around the moon by 2028 through their Artemis programme
EPA
6/50 29 July 2020
A woman refreshes herself in a outdoor pool in summer temperatures in Ehingen, Germany
dpa via AP
7/50 28 July 2020
Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak speaks to the media after he was found guilty in his corruption trial in Kuala Lumpur
AFP via Getty
8/50 27 July 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses for a photograph after conferring commemorative pistols to leading commanding officers of the armed forces on the 67th anniversary of the “Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War”. Which marks the signing of the Korean War armistice
KCNA via Reuters
9/50 26 July 2020
Federal officers launch tear gas at a group of demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest outside the Portland Courthouse
AP
10/50 25 July 2020
Rescue forces in action after an ultralight aircraft crashed into a house in Wesel, Germany
EPA
11/50 24 July 2020
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the official opening ceremony of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty
12/50 23 July 2020
Federal officers arrest a protester after she crossed a fence line set up around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon. State and city elected officials have called for the federal officers to leave Portland as clashes between protesters and federal police continue to escalate
Getty
13/50 22 July 2020
Fire burns near the village of Galataki as authorities evacuate the place near Corinth, Greece. More than 250 firefighters, backed by water-dropping aircraft, were struggling Wednesday to contain a large wildfire fanned by strong winds that has forced the evacuation of five settlements in southern Greece
AP
14/50 21 July 2020
A Black Lives Matter protester carries an American flag as teargas fills the air outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon
AP
15/50 20 July 2020
A trader decorates a camel with Henna at a cattle market set up for the upcoming Muslim festival Eid al-Adha also called “Festival of the Sacrifice”, in Rawalpindi
AFP via Getty
16/50 19 July 2020
The Milky Way galaxy is seen in the sky above the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada. The roadside attraction, created in 2002 by Mark Rippie, has over 36 automobiles including cars, trucks, vans and buses that have been balanced on their ends or stacked on top one of another
AFP via Getty
17/50 18 July 2020
Revellers take part in the annual Gay Pride parade, also called Christopher Street Day in Frankfurt
Reuters
18/50 17 July 2020
Airplanes of the Scandinavian Airshow draw a heart in the sky, above the Turning Torso building in Malmo, Sweden
TT News Agency/Reuters
19/50 16 July 2020
Farmers protest outside the Indonesian Parliament against the cancellation of an ‘omnibus bill’ that aims to revise dozens of existing laws to ease the way for investment in Southeast Asia’s largest economy in Jakarta
Reuters
20/50 15 July 2020
Flooding in Sunamganj. Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade
AFP via Getty
21/50 14 July 2020
Second Republican infantry guard regiment take part in the annual Bastille Day military ceremony on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
AFP via Getty
22/50 13 July 2020
A man walks his dog through thick sea foam blowing ashore during a storm in Seapoint, Cape Town, South Africa
EPA
23/50 12 July 2020
Security forces on the outskirts of Amritsar take part in Van Mahotsav, an annual tree-planting festival in India
AFP via Getty
24/50 11 July 2020
People covered with coloured powder enjoy music during the Holi festival in Minsk, Belarus
EPA
25/50 10 July 2020
A demonstrator during clashes following the funeral of 29-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim Abou Yacoub, who was killed by Israeli forces, in the village of Kifl Hares, south of the West Bank city of Nablus
AFP via Getty
26/50 9 July 2020
The sun rises in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany
AP
27/50 8 July 2020
Portraits of healthcare workers are pasted on the Opera Bastille, designed by Anne-Christine Poujoulat, to pay tribute to caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Paris
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty
28/50 7 July 2020
Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
29/50 6 July 2020
A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
30/50 5 July 2020
People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
31/50 4 July 2020
Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
32/50 3 July 2020
A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
33/50 2 July 2020
A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
34/50 1 July 2020
A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
35/50 30 June 2020
A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
36/50 29 June 2020
Lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
37/50 28 June 2020
Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil’s National Congress
Getty
38/50 27 June 2020
A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
39/50 26 June 2020
Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
40/50 25 June 2020
A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
41/50 24 June 2020
A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
42/50 23 June 2020
Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
43/50 22 June 2020
A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
44/50 21 June 2020
Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
45/50 20 June 2020
National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
46/50 19 June 2020
Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
47/50 18 June 2020
Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
48/50 17 June 2020
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
49/50 16 June 2020
Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
50/50 15 June 2020
Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
The report also calls for the introduction of testing after five days of quarantine and increased testing at points of entry to the country.
Under the current system, the government publishes a list of countries where travel is allowed without quarantining for 14 days after return.
