Croatia passes government threshold for quarantine measures

It's expected the country will be removed from the travel corridor later today

The number of coronavirus cases in Croatia has reached a seven-day average of 27.4 per 100,000, well above the government threshold for quarantine measures at 20 and a marked increase on 7.8 this time last week. This afternoon the UK government is due to update its travel advice and change existing travel corridors. Croatia will be moved onto the "red list" of nations, The Telegraph reports. It's believed around 20,000 Brits are currently in the Balkan state and could be dashing to airports soon, where tickets are pricing higher than £200. Right now SkyScanner has four flights for Friday August 21:

• £238 from Split to Luton with WizzAir at 9.25pm
• £320 from Split to Heathrow with BA at 11.30am
• £340 from Zagreb to Heathrow with BA at 1.20pm
• £496 from Zagreb to Heathrow with Croatia Airlines at 5.45pm

The deadline for the 14-day quarantine measures will likely be Saturday August 22 at 4am. Transport secretary Grant Shapps met with other officials on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the situation and potential measures. A surge in cases put Croatia into dangerous territory and the government will also be closely observing Greece, Gibraltar, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Austria and Switzerland. Portugal may well have its exemptions lifted and moved to the "green list." The airline industry is currently lobbying the government to reduce its quarantine periods via airport testing, with passengers tested on arrival, again several days later, and then released early from self isolation if both results are negative. Health secretary Matt Hancock said the government is "working on" this proposition. This week Heathrow airport unveiled a multi-million pound testing facility but it has not yet been put to use.