Travellers from Portugal arriving in Scotland must now spend a fortnight in isolation – but there are still political divisions over the decision.
The rules came into force from 4am on Saturday, 24 hours after Wales introduced the same quarantine period for those arriving from the country. However, they do not apply to England and Northern Ireland.
Travellers from Greece to Scotland were told to isolate from Thursday.
Portugal had only been removed from the UK quarantine list two weeks ago but there had been suggestions the Department for Transport would opt to reimpose it after coronavirus cases rose above 20 cases per 100,000 people – the threshold used for past travel decisions.
Fresh restrictions have already been reintroduced for the popular tourist destination by the Welsh government but England and Northern Ireland opted not to collapse the so-called travel corridor with Portugal.
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Scotland on Thursday reintroduced quarantine for those returning from Greece and while Wales did the same for six Greek islands, including Crete and Zante, but England and Northern Ireland resisted.
Despite the differences, Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that "overwhelmingly the UK is proceeding as one".
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But earlier in the day, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said there was now "confusion" over differing quarantine rules across the union and accused Scotland of having "jumped the gun" on imposing restrictions on Greece.
A Scottish government spokesman hit back saying there had been a "worrying number of people in Scotland who tested positive for COVID-19 and who had returned from Greece".
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He added: "In the case of Portugal, it was unfortunate that the UK government announced their decision yesterday before ministers from England, ScotRead More – Source
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