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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Ryan Merrifield

Experts fear for summer holidays as Covid rates in France, Spain and Italy revealed

Brits' summer holidays could be at risk as Covid rates continue to rise at home and abroad, say experts.

Spain, France, Germany, Greece, and Italy are all among the European countries currently recording an increase in cases.

The outbreaks are thanks to the spread of Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5, thought to be more infectious than the BA.2 strain.

Jet-setters no longer need to provide evidence they are coronavirus-free or vaccinated to be able to enter many foreign countries.

But despite much of the world slowly introducing post-pandemic measures, the latest figures are worrying.

Have you been affected by this story? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk

Passengers queue to board a Ryanair flight to Malaga at London Southend Airport (Getty Images)

And some health chiefs are calling for the return of face masks amid concerns British holidaymakers could be cut-off from international travel.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran believes countries might reintroduce restrictions on UK arrivals.

The chair of Westminster’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus told the Mirror yesterday: “It is possible that holiday plans will be ruined due to rising Covid rates in the UK.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran (Getty Images)

“Other countries could reintroduce restrictions on arrivals from Britain and transport companies, already in crisis from the Government’s mishandling of Brexit and industrial action, are likely to see an increase in staff shortages with more people off sick with the virus and Long Covid.”

It comes after chaos hit UK airports in April when workers took time off ill in their droves as cases hit pandemic highs of 4.1million.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 1.8million people were infected in the week to June 24 in Britain, the highest in two months.

People sunbathe at Levante Beach in Benidorm, Spain (Getty Images)

Professor Martin McKee, president at the British Medical Association (BMA), told the MailOnline : "We're not out of the woods yet."

He said there is much uncertainty over infection levels as current figures don't tell us "where they will be when we actually travel" or if it has hit those in the destination we go to.

Dr David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at Exeter University, told the news outlet has scrapped his holiday to Spain and believes other Brits will be weighing up their options too.

He warned that around one in 20 people will be infected when getting on a flight and up to a quarter would have the virus by the time they land.

However, conversely, Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said he doesn't tourism-reliant nations to introduce new restrictions and risk crippling their economies.

He added: "I doubt many holiday destination countries will make existing rules more restrictive."

Latest Covid rates in holiday hotspots

Tourists outside the Colosseum in Rome, Italy (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Spain recorded 417 cases per million people each day in the week up to July 1, up 61.6% from two weeks earlier.

France has recorded its highest infection rate since April with 1,639 per million having tested positive in the week up to July 4, with rates having spiked 78.2% in a fortnight.

Germany 's Covid cases are at a two-month high, jumping 49.7% in the last fortnight, from 715 to 1,070 per million.

Italy 's infections have soared to a five-month high, with 1,293 people testing positive per day in the week up to July 4, up 36.8% over two weeks.

Greece has one of the highest Covid rates in all of Europe with 1,441 daily cases per million in the last seven days, over double the recorded infections from two weeks ago.

Turkey logged 141 infections per million on Monday, around 11 times more than two weeks ago amid a sharp rise.

Portugal has seen cases falling for a month with 869 people per million testing positive on June 30, a 44.2% drop from two weeks before.

Egypt has not recorded any infections for more than two months, though health ministers have warned cases have jumped by 7% in the last week.

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