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Italy imposes quarantine on UK visitors; opens door to USA, Canada, Japan and EU

Rome - Travellers must have a green pass showing they are vaccinated or recently tested negative.

Italy has introduced a mandatory five-day quarantine for visitors from Britain, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Friday, as concerns grow over a highly contagious coronavirus variant that is spreading in the nation.

At the same time, Italy is lifting curbs on travellers from the United States, Canada, Japan and other European Union states if they have a green pass showing they are vaccinated or recently tested negative, the minister wrote on Facebook.

A ban on people arriving from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would remain in place, he added.

The new measures will come into force on Monday, a health ministry spokesman said.

Germany to reopen to vaccinated non-EU travellers

The minister said travellers from Britain would also have to be tested, but he did not say if the measures were being introduced immediately.

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Italy is following in the footsteps of France, Austria and Germany, which have already introduced varying curbs on those entering from Britain.

Britain on Friday said there had been a 79 per cent increase in weekly reported cases of the Delta coronavirus variant, which was first identified in India. The variant now comprises 91 per cent of sequenced cases, Public Health England said.