TOURISTS travelling from England to Scotland could be forced to go into quarantine for two weeks if there’s another spike in coronavirus south of the Border.
According to the Times, holiday-makers crossing the Border may face fines of £480 if they fail to adhere to Scottish Government rules.
Scotland is continuing to ease lockdown restrictions as the number of cases falls towards zero. Public Health expert Proffessor Devi Sridhar, of Edinburgh University, said yesterday that the country "is on track to eliminate coronavirus by the end of the summer".
However, a government source reportedly said Holyrood ministers are wary that efforts to suppress the virus could be undermined when the holiday season begins next month, with an influx of English visitors expected.
As it stands, people entering Scotland from overseas must enter quarantine for two weeks or face a £480 fine.
The Scottish Government source told the Times that those measures could be applied to visitors coming from England to help protect public health and the economy.
The added that the measure may only apply to areas of England where the Covid-19 infection rate is high.
READ MORE: Non-essential travel row as UK plan 'comes as surprise' to Scotland
The Scottish Government commented: “To allow us to move out of lockdown, it is critical that we keep transmission of the virus as low as possible, and that includes transmission from high to low-risk areas.
“Scotland has in place enhanced surveillance to identify those risks, and has long-established powers, enhanced by recent coronavirus legislation, to manage them.
“We are having to take unprecedented steps to deal with the challenges that the pandemic brings. As we hopefully suppress the virus further, we will continue to consider any measures that might be necessary to protect against the risk of imported cases of the virus.”
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