Two countries have been added to the Scottish Government's coronavirus quarantine list with travellers returning from both Estonia and Latvia now having to self-isolate for 14 days on return.
And several destinations have now been made exempt including Israel, Sri Lanka and a number of Caribbean islands.
However, Justice Secretary Humza Yousef advises the move should not be seen as a 'green light' for Scots to travel overseas.
The full list of newly-exempt countries, announced by the government this Thursday evening, is as follows:
- Aruba
- Bhutan
- Israel
- Jerusalem
- Kiribati
- Micronesia
- Mongolia
- Namibia
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Uruguay
- Vanuatu
- US Virgin Islands
- Bonaire
- Sint Eustatius
- Saba
The requirement to self-isolate on return from Estonia and Latvia will come into force at 4am on Saturday.
Enhanced travel controls which prevented visitors arriving into the UK from Denmark will also be removed this Saturday. However, anyone arriving into the UK from Denmark will still be required to isolate for 14 days.
The regulations will also make minor amendments to sectoral exemptions related to state business, diplomatic missions and sub-sea telecommunications workers.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “We continue to closely monitor the status of the pandemic in countries across the world, given circumstances can change so rapidly and that all of us must take great care to avoid contributing to the spread of the virus.
“The removal of the travel ban on visitors from Denmark as well as the addition of a number of destinations to the list of countries designated exempt from quarantine requirements, should not be taken as a green light for lots of people to arrange overseas travel.
“Our message remains clear that people should think very hard before committing to non-essential foreign travel as the public health situation, and therefore our response to it, can change rapidly.
“It is imperative that we disrupt the spread of this virus which remains a significant challenge in Scotland and across the world.”
