Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240712 : vimarsana.com

BBCNEWS BBC News July 12, 2024

Bringing a warning from the world health organisation. 16 million. Buy one, get one free deals will be banned and junk food adverts restricted as the uk government tries to tackle obesity in england. Britains chief rabbi has accused twitter and facebook, which owns instagram, of lacking responsible leadership in their response to anti semitic posts from the grime artist wiley. The memorialforjohn lewis is under way in washington. Politicians and the public will pay their respects to the late civil rights leader and us congressman. And the rescuer gets rescued how a st bernard found herself in trouble on englands highest peak. Hello, and welcome. We start with the uncertainty facing tens of thousands of british holiday makers following the governments abrupt decision to impose a two week quarantine on people arriving in the uk from spain. In the past hour, the Uk Foreign Office has confirmed its also advising against all nonessential travel to the canary and Balearic Islands in addition to mainland spain. The Budget Airline jet2 says its suspending flights and holiday packages to destinations in mainland spain, as well as the algarve in southern portugal. The rate of Coronavirus Infection in spain is 35. 1 cases per 100,000 people, while the uk is at 14. 7, according to the latest figures from the European Centre for disease prevention and control. Spain, including the balearic and the Canary Islands, is the most popular destination for britons on their summer holidays, with more than 18 million visits last year. France was second and italy third. Almost 10,000 flights were scheduled to fly from the uk to spain between now and late august, which travel experts say translates to around 1. 8 million affected passengers. Ministers have warned that new countries could be added to the quarantine list at any time if infection rates start to rise again. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge has the latest. Arriving back from ibiza this afternoon and off the plane from majorca. The sudden return of quarantine for those flying in from spain is causing headaches. The rules are changing all the time, which is very difficult for people like ourselves. We were on a 65th Birthday Celebration when this broke, and it kind of shattered the day in a way because everyone then had problems with travel. So, to me, it feels like i was in a safer place where there was less cases, and now ive come back here and now im kind of the one thats being quarantined on my own while everyone else is out and about. I think its a selfish reaction, but we need to remember people who died from covid and thats as much as we feel gutted, i think its very badly managed. We willjust get on with it. The britton family, heading in the opposite direction. We spent most of saturday night when the announcement came through talking it through about the best thing to do, whether to go or not. Angry their destination, majorca, is not exempt. When we looked at the other day, there were 20 cases in majorca and we live in hertfordshire where there are 46. So, if you compare the two, it just seems really strange that they havent regionalised it. And airports and airlines are desperate that that happens soon. I mean, this is a blow, no doubt, and i think were looking at the government to move very quickly to look at regionalising parts of spain. Some of those parts of spain have got much lower infection rates than others and we would expect it to be possible to travel there and back without having to quarantine. With more people heading off on holiday now, stansted at least felt quite busy today. But dont be deceived by the air of normality at this airport. For the end ofjuly, passenger numbers are still way down. And with the quarantine returning for people arriving from spain, its another bitter blow for travel companies. And it threatens any type of recovery for the travel sector. Today, the share price of airlines like ryanair fell. And even more people did not show up for flights as holidays were cancelled. Suzanne was supposed to fly to malaga next week. It has changed our minds, really, about whether we should always shouldnt go because actually, you could be in this situation again in a couple of months, you may have chosen a different destination thinking it is safe now but actually just before youre about to go, or actually even if you are away, then your plans could change and you might be stuck somewhere. More than half of stansteds flights today were to or from spain. Across the country, tens of thousands of holidays will be disrupted. But ministers insist the quarantine should apply to the whole of spain. We have seen, of course, that the virus is most rampant in the northeast of spain, but weve also seen instances of the virus rising across spain. So, of course its an imposition on folk who were looking forward to their summer holidays, but i think most recognise that the most important thing that we need to do is to Work Together across United Kingdom to keep everyone safe and healthy. But tonight, the fallout continues. Jet2 announcing its suspending all its flights and holidays to the mainland until the middle of august. Many more precious trips away ruined. Tom burridge, bbc news. In a moment, well talk to our chief Political Correspondent Jonathan Blake at westminster. But first tom burridge, our transport correspondent, is at stansted airport. Tell me the latest you are hearing in the briefings you are getting earlier in the day. I think there is yet another dramatic twist to this this evening. It is that the government now has changed its travel advice to the Spanish Islands, the ca nary travel advice to the Spanish Islands, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands to bring in line with what they announced on saturday. They had something in for all of mainland spain but now they have said all nonessential trained to all of spain should not go ahead. That is really significant because if you just look at how the biggest Tour Operators in the uk, reacted to the change in travel advice to the mainland, they scrapped holidays until august, until the middle of august in early august in both cases and really now both cases will be sitting down in crisis meetings looking at that again and probably i would guess making that same decision for the islands, too. That will disrupt thousands, if not tens of thousands of holidays on top of all those holidays which have already been ruined. All those holidays which have already been ruinedlj all those holidays which have already been ruined. I was going to come to interns accounts winces both for airlines and travel firms. Is there any way to quantify the impact of all of this on this summer ahead. Well, it is huge because you only have to look at the figures in terms of where spain is in terms of popularity for the uk, it is right at the top, we ahead of italy and millions and millions of trips normally at this time of year are made by british residents out to spain, after the Spanish Islands in the spanish economy depends on it and travel firms depend on that happening. That is threatening and being injeopardy for happening. That is threatening and being in jeopardy for months. Happening. That is threatening and being injeopardy for months. These businesses have been haemorrhaging millions if not billions of pounds from prolonged periods of time with huge cost of maintaining the aircraft parked over there in the aircraft parked over there in the air which many of those aircraft simply are not going anywhere at the moment. They are really struggling, airlines, airports, travel agents across the country, and this is yet another major, major slap in the face for them and their business because spain is so vital. And it really will i think put in jeopardy some of the businesses, not the really big financially strong ones which have lots of money in the bank but those other businesses which have been struggling before the crisis or are not in a very confident position, really now i think in the coming months are at risk of going under. Tom, thank you very much. Lets talk to our Political CorrespondentJonathan Blake at westminster. This was messy yesterday and even messier now. It has been a day of confusion about the travel advice and quarantine really came in over the weekend as we have heard and the discrepancy in the advice being updated immediately on saturday night when the quarantine announcement was made applying to mainland spain. But leaving open the possibility of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Island still being subject to the previous advice. But with that decision that we have had confirmed by the Foreign Office this evening to advise british people against all but essential travel to those Spanish Islands as well, there is now at least as time was saying clarity for holiday makers and travel companies as well and we will see travel companies as well and we will see the consequences of that im sure in the coming days with far fewer people travelling. But it has been confusing and there has clearly been confusing and there has clearly beena been confusing and there has clearly been a consideration and talk from some parts of government of possible exemptions for those Spanish Islands where people would not have to quarantine on their return but certainly today ministers have been saying in public that that was not going to be the case. And a quick question because implications for all foreign travel if advice can change so quickly . And that was a message from downing street today that no travel is risk free during this pandemic. And they travel advice and restrictions and quarantine rules can change at short notice. The people looking at what has happened with the advice to go to quarantine on return from spain may will be reconsidering the thought of travelling elsewhere around europe and internationally as around europe and internationally as a consequence of around europe and internationally as a consequence of that. All right, thank you both. The new quarantine affecting travellers from spanish airports was announced on saturday evening after a spike in the number of new cases in some regions of spain. The greatest concentration of infections is in the north east. Popular tourist areas in the south in addition to the canaries and the Balearic Islands are reporting relatively low infection rates. For the latest in catalonia, lets join our europe correspondent gavin lee in barcelona. Spain is fighting to save its Tourism Industry. This tree lined boulevard in barcelona bears little resemblance to the hustle and bustle of summers gone by. Sergio has been running his newsstand here for 20 years. He says even in extreme times, he has never seen it like this. Translation even the day after the terror attack, there were 30 times more people than today. And now with the quarantine imposed again in britain, its making a bad situation worse. Further south down the coast, this town is a favourite destination with british tourists. At the moment, its just eight. Yes, so, we normally have 200 people in here for the show every single night, twice a night. But at the moment, weve got nothing. We cant survive with this, its an absolute nightmare. Beers on the beach for helen and julie from wigan. They arrived on thursday on a holiday theyd spent months dreaming about. Weve already lost a lot over the last three to four months being locked down, when i get home im going to have to quarantine for 14 days, nothing else i can do. The uk government is making it clear it wishes british citizens werent here right now, given spains sudden jump in infection rate in recent days. Officials here insist the virus is in hand, and the hope for a Tourism Industry worth millions is that it will soon be under control. Gavin lee, bbc news, barcelona. As weve heard the announcement on saturday night giving travellers just five hours notice has caused uncertainty and confusion for thousands of british holiday makers with many asking what theyre meant to do. 0ur Consumer Affairs correspondent sarah corker has been looking at some of the most frequently asked questions and providing some answers. For those dreaming of a holiday getaway this summer, there are still plenty of questions. Should i cancel my holiday to spain and will i get my money back . The Foreign Office is advising against all non essential travel to spain, and that now includes the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. Anyone coming back home will have to quarantine and people whose trips have been cancelled are supposed to get a refund within two weeks. 0ne holiday operator has cancelled all its holidays to mainland spain until the 9th of august. But Major Airlines like british airways, easyjet, are continuing their programme of flights to spain. What does this mean for my insurance . Travelling against Foreign Office advice will invalidate your policy. If you were already in spain when the advice change, check with your insurers. If you are booking, thinking of booking a european holiday, which obviously many of us are, there is a lot of pent demand, if you are concerned about Foreign Office advice changing, which there is always the possibility that it could, book a package holiday because if you do that, if the advice changes when you are due to be travelling, then the Tour Operator will let you go later on in the year when the situation improves, go to another country, or have your money back. That is the best way to protect yourself. What does this mean for trips to the rest of europe . The government reviews countries on its safe level for travel list every week and if there are spikes elsewhere in europe then travel advice could change. At the moment, countries seen here are open for business. That includes top tourism hotspots like france, greece, italy and germany. Will i get paid if i have to quarantine . It will depend on individual employers. If you can work from home, then you can get paid as normal, but if you cant, then youre not automatically entitled to statutory sick pay of £95. 85 a week. There are, though, other options. The other options are possibly an extended period of annual leave, which would be paid, or alternatively maybe a mutually agreed period of unpaid leave, which obviously would not be paid. So, it is dependent on what is agreed between both parties. As the virus continues to circulate, changes to policy are inevitable and the government could alter its guidance again at very little notice. We will talk to the travel editor at the Sun Newspaper in a moment but lets talk to john. John burn murdoch is a data journalist at the Financial Times and has been tracking the spread and containment of coronavirus in Different Countries around the world. Welcome here to the programme. As a second when you have been tracking these cases internationally. When did you first bought this trend that we have seen in spain . Sure. This was fairly easy to see starting somewhere between two or three weeks ago. I mean the key thing with these this data is there can be these little bumps upwards and down was it dont necessarily indicate that there will be a major surge as it we re there will be a major surge as it were as we have seen there will be a major surge as it were as we have seen in spain. The key is to keep checking these regularly but what we have seen is this steady increase in quantity over the past two or three weeks which has taken us to where we are today. I suppose that makes a question if you were seeing that while the government were not giving tourists the heads up in terms of where this was heading . tourists the heads up in terms of where this was heading . I think that isafair where this was heading . I think that is a fair point to race but this stuff is a lot more nuanced and people would imagine because you might seea people would imagine because you might see a similar trend in two countries but if one of them is a large cluster isolated in one small location and the other as we are seeing in spain is more of a Community Type spread across wide regions, those are two very different scenarios. The key for the public is look at this data to get your sort of clue as to whether the destination youre looking at may prove to be a more risky one but then the government advice could be different for Different Countries. Soi different for Different Countries. So i dont think its as simple as a sort of black and white case but look at the data and then checked the advice would be my suggestion. Waspy will make of the fact that the spanish authorities are saying we should have perhaps a regional approach to this and the British Government saying actually we need to have these restrictions right across spain . I think the uk stance on this is actually quite reasonable. When you look at the data, it is true that some regions of spain are more badly affected than others with this new resurgence at the moment. But even the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands that we have talked about half much higher rates of new infections than the uk average and indeed only about 10 of the worst hit parts of the uk right now have higher rates of new infections than those islands. So the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands have lower rates of i

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