People who go on holiday abroad should have an understanding that they may be asked to self-isolate when they return, ministers have said.
Local government minister Simon Clarke said: “All holidays have to be taken understanding that foreign travel in the middle of a global pandemic which has caused devastation across the world has to be conducted against the backdrop of the Government’s right to take steps to protect the UK.
“We’ve made enormous strides in this country over the last few weeks and we have now got the situation very largely under control.
“We cannot jeopardise that, we cannot render all the sacrifices that we’ve made redundant by failing to intervene to stop risk from being reimported from abroad.
“By all means go on holiday, but understand that there is a chance that you might be asked to self-isolate on your return.”
He told the BBC: "As the situation changes on the ground, we have to reserve the right to take action to keep the British public safe.
“That’s what we’ve done in the case of Spain. I think we’d have faced equally, frankly, strong criticism from you this morning had we done anything else.
“If we’d failed to take these steps, we’d be accused of inaction in the face of a growing health cris
The statement comes after they Government suddenly reimposed quarantine for anyone travelling back to the Uk from Spain over the weekend.
Quarantine rules had been lifted but are now back in place meaning anyone who has gone to Spain will need to self-isolate for 14 days when they get back to the UK - and will be unable to return to work.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all non-essential travel to Spain and made it clear this includes the Canaries and Balearics.
Mr Clarke said the UK Government is encouraging employers to take a “sensible and compassionate” approach to staff who may find themselves having to self-isolate after returning to England from abroad.
He told the BBC: “We all feel deeply for everyone who’s been affected by this.
“We very strongly encourage employers to take a sensible and compassionate approach to people who find themselves in this situation.
“If people are in genuine crisis, then of course there is a safety net through the new employment support allowance or through Universal Credit and advances can be paid very quickly if you’re in immediate need.
“We really do hope that employers will be supportive and put sensible steps in place to accommodate people who are affected by this.
“It is, after all, through no fault of their own, so we really hope and expect employers will be supportive, but there is support there if people need it.”
The UK Government does not agree with the claims of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that Britain has miscalculated the data on the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Spain, Mr Clarke said.
Mr Sanchez has called the UK Government’s decision to impose a 14-day quarantine on everyone arriving from Spain “unjust”.
Mr Clarke told BBC Breakfast: “We respectfully disagree with the Spanish government’s position on this.
“We obviously continue to work closely with them and we wish them every success in managing this outbreak, but we’ve seen a very sharp increase in cases in Spain.
“A 75% increase in cases reported between the middle of last week and the end of last week. That’s why we took the action that we have.
“Clearly, you do have to make decisions on a country-wide basis. There is going to be internal transfer within Spain and it’s important that we do our utmost to protect the public.”
