‘The only people I saw without masks were Chelsea and Man City fans’: Furious Portuguese MP points finger at football supporters and blasts UK for making ‘mistake’ with ‘no basis’ by removing country from green list

• Cristóvão Norte, Portuguese MP for the Algarve, today criticised UK’s decision
• He said the only people he saw not wearing masks were British football fans
• Manchester City and Chelsea fans travelled to Portugal for the Champions League final, with a number of fans having since been told to self-isolate
• British holidaymakers suffered a blow as Portugal was removed from the UK’s green list, with Shapps citing fears over the spread of the new Nepal variant

A furious Portuguese MP has pointed the finger at British football supporters and has blasted the UK for removing the country from its travel green list.

Cristóvão Norte, Portuguese MP for the Algarve, said today that the UK government’s decision to remove Portugal from the list was a ‘mistake’ with ‘no basis’.

‘We haven’t had massive changes in Portugal – none in the Algarve whatsoever,’ he told LBC radio. ‘People wear masks, obey social distancing, vaccination process is growing steadily. And we have had just a small spike – a minor spike – in Lisbon.

‘The only people that I saw in the past two weeks without masks were the Chelsea and City fans in Porto. Everyone, besides that, obeyed the rules. 

‘And we hope, by the 24th, the English government will realise this is a mistake, an unfair decision, that there’s no basis for it,’ he added.

A furious Portuguese MP has pointed the finger at British football supporters and has blasted the UK for removing the country from its travel green list. Pictured: Fans in Porto ahead of the Champions League Final Manchester City v Chelsea on Saturday

Cristóvão Norte, Portuguese MP for the Algarve, said today that the UK government’s decision to remove Portugal from the list was a ‘mistake’ with ‘no basis’

Mr Norte’s comments came after thousands of Manchester City and Chelsea fans travelled to Lisbon to watch their respective teams compete in the final of the Champions League football tournament on Saturday.

Today, British holidaymakers suffered a hammer blow as Portugal was removed from the UK’s green list, with Grant Shapps citing fears over the spread of the new Nepal variant.

In a brutal overhaul, the only major tourist destination in the lowest bracket is being axed from 4am Tuesday – with sources suggesting the new strain identified in the country was a significant factor in the decision.

‘I respect it, but I think they have an over-cautious approach because Portugal, since January, has taken all the measures and the results show it,’ the Portuguese MP said. 

Transport Secretary Mr Shapps said there had been a rise in test positivity in Portugal, and also pointed to the danger that the coronavirus variant linked to Nepal could pose a fresh threat to the escape from lockdown.

‘I want to be straight with people, it’s actually a difficult decision to make, but in the end we’ve seen two things really which caused concern,’ he said.

‘One is the positivity rate has nearly doubled since the last review in Portugal and the other is there’s a sort of Nepal mutation of the so-called Indian variant which has been detected and we just don’t know the potential for that to be a vaccine-defeating mutation, and simply don’t want to take the risk as we come up to June 21 and the review of the fourth stage of the unlock.’

Pictured: Mask-clad shoppers crowd Rua do Carmo on a Sunday sunny afternoon during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic on May 30, 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal

A mask-clad woman pauses to check her cellphone in front of A Brasileira do Chiado restaurant during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic on June 02, 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal

At least 20 cases of the strain, which combines mutations from the Indian and South African versions, have been spotted in the UK. And a case has been identified in Portugal – which does far less genomic screening than Britain.

Yesterday Portugal saw its highest daily number of cases since March. And the country currently has a case rate of around 37 infections per 100,000 people – higher than the UK’s rate of 34.5.

The final decisions were based on an assessment from the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), sparking fury from the travel industry, while Portuguese government branded it ‘illogical’.

No countries are being added to the UK’s ‘green list’, dashing hopes that places such as Malta, Jamaica and Grenada could be added thanks to easing Covid rates.

And more countries have been added to the ‘red list’ that means returning travellers must go into quarantine hotels. They were Egypt, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Bahrain, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago and Afghanistan.

Man City and Chelsea fans told to self-isolate after Porto final 

Hundreds of Manchester City and Chelsea fans who travelled to Portugal for the Champions League final last weekend have been ordered to self-isolate for 10 days – with the country axed from the UK’s Green List.  

Supporters who travelled on a Ryanair flight from Porto to Manchester on Sunday morning have been contacted by the NHS’s Test and Trace app – though the number of positive cases is unknown. 

Three planeloads of Chelsea fans were also asked to self-isolate, leading to fears that all 12,000 supporters who travelled to Lisbon could be affected. Both clubs organised flights for their supporters – though some travelled independently. 

Fans who were on the flights organised by the club shared details of messages from the NHS Track and Trace app which contacts people who have been in close contact with someone who has Covid-19.

‘Anyone else been captured by NHS track and trace since getting back from Porto?’ one supporter posted on Facebook. ‘Despite two vaccinations, a negative test and no symptoms I’ve got to self-isolate for 10 days …Deep Joy!’

Chelsea fans were offered a £199 travel package through the club on top of the cost of the match ticket, although some of their 6,000 supporters chose to travel to the country independently.  

Football fans celebrating Sporting Lisbon’s title win were also identified as potential causes. 

Portugal’s government has kept bars and night clubs closed and still recommend people working from home but the country has now lost its place on the UK’s ‘green list’. 

Meanwhile, Labour renewed demands for the ‘amber list’ to be scrapped to prevent mutant strains from being imported.

And in another setback for travellers the EU has again delayed a decision on whether the UK will be added to its ‘white list’ of safe countries from which leisure travel is welcome.

Andrew Flintham, manging director for Tui UK, said: ‘This latest announcement is another step back for our industry.

‘After promises that the Global Travel Taskforce would result in a clear framework, removing the damaging flip-flopping we all endured last summer, the Government decision to move Portugal straight from green to amber will do untold damage to customer confidence.

‘We were reassured that a green watch list would be created and a week’s notice would be given so travellers wouldn’t have to rush back home. They have failed on this promise.

‘Unlike other European countries and despite multiple requests, the Government has refused to be transparent about the data requirements for green, amber and red destinations.

‘We must see the methodology so we can help our customers and plan our operations accordingly. There are destinations around the world with little or no Covid-19 cases and good vaccination rates, so we need to understand why these remain on the amber list.’

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: ‘This shock decision to add Portugal to the amber list is a huge blow to those who are currently in Portugal and those who have booked to be reunited with loved ones, or take a well-deserved break this summer.

‘With Portuguese rates similar to those in the UK it simply isn’t justified by the science.

‘And to add no more countries to the green list when most of Europe’s infection rates are on a downward trend and many places with low infection rates below that of the UK, such as the Balearics with a current rate of 33 in 100,000 and Malta, with just 12 in 100,000, this makes no sense.

‘Especially when domestic travel is allowed within the UK, despite a number of cities having infection rates 20 times greater than much of Europe.’

Covid cases jumped by more than 36 per cent in a week today, the eighth day in a row they have been above 3,000 and the second day in less than a week they have reached over 4,000

Twelve more lives were also lost to the virus today — rising a third on last Wednesday’s figure — after yesterday’s recording of zero bolstered calls for No10 to stick with its roadmap

HAVE SUN-SEEKING BRITS PLAYED A ROLE IN PORTUGAL’S RISING INFECTION RATE? 

Portugal’s Covid infection rates were already rising before Brits were allowed to holiday in the country, data shows.  

The country was one of the 12 countries to be named by Grant Shapps on May 7 as on the green list.

Since May 17, UK citizens have been allowed to travel to the Algarve and Portugal’s other popular tourism hotspots quarantine-free.

They were still required to take a Covid test before and after travelling, meaning only very few would have been able to bring the virus into the country.

Yesterday Portugal recorded 724 infections yesterday, its highest daily number of cases since March . 

And the country currently has a case rate of around 37 infections per 100,000 people – higher than the UK’s rate of 34.5. 

But cases have been rising steadily since May 11 — six days before Brits were allowed to travel to the country — when there were 268 positive tests.

Graph shows: Portugal’s confirmed Covid cases per million people since the start of the pandemic

Portugal recorded just 377 new Covid cases on May 7, when it was announced it would be on the UK’s green list. 

Since then cases have risen 56 per cent, with cases rising 34 per cent in the last fortnight in contrast to neighbouring Spain — on the amber list — which has seen infections drop.

Its average cases per million people dipped below the UK’s briefly from May 10 (31.98) to May 13 (34.38) for the first time since April 7.

But they began steadily rising before Britons were allowed to enter the country without quarantining on return.

And the rate of increase has remained stable since that date, increasing 20.3 per cent in the last week.

Portugal and Brunei are the only two countries of the 12 on the green list to have seen infections rise since May 17. 

Portugal’s average cases per million people dipped below the UK’s briefly from May 10 (31.98) to May 13 (34.38) for the first time since April 7

Some 16,500 football fans traveled to Porto last weekend for the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City.

Thousands packed the city’s bars, with many pictured ignoring social distancing rules and not wearing face masks. 

It forced Porto’s health authority to tell residents who were near the fan zones to ‘reduce contacts’ over the next few weeks and look out for Covid symptoms.

But any effect on cases from the British fans travelling to the country will not be recorded for another few days due to the incubation period.

It takes about five days for the virus to take hold in the body after initial infection. 

Just 20.8 per cent of people in Portugal have been fully vaccinated — compared to nearly half in the UK — while only 43.2 per cent have had their first jab — compared to more than three quarters of Brits.

And it is too early to tell whether the country’s swell in cases has come as a result of the Indian variant, with the results of genomic testing of Brits returning to the UK expected today.

Source: Read Full Article