Government unable to track every UK traveller, Lenert says
Just over 600 travellers returning from the UK in June and July complied with Luxembourg's mandatory quarantine rules, health minister Paulette Lenert said on Thursday, in response to a parliamentary question prompted by a Luxembourg Times article which suggested many had flouted the regulations.
With Luxembourg's national airline Luxair operating flights between London and the Grand Duchy in the period in question - from 13 June to 31 July, when the quarantine obligation was lifted - in addition to services from Ryanair, it is likely several hundred travellers broke Luxembourg's Covid rules.
Luxair carried out 23 flights between 13 June and 31 July, an airline spokesperson told The Luxembourg Times on Friday. Luxair declined to confirm the total number of passengers who had travelled during the period in question, but the aircrafts normally used on the route are De Havilland Q400 with a maximum capacity of 76 seats.
On 13 June, the government put in place mandatory testing and a seven-day quarantine for anyone returning to Luxembourg from the UK due to the rapid spread of the more transmissible delta variant, which hit the UK before the continent. Travellers also needed to get in touch with the health ministry and report their stay in the United Kingdom.
However, many people widely flouted these rules, the Luxembourg Times reported in July, prompting Greens lawmakers Jorsée Lorsché and Marc Hansen to submit their parliamentary question.
"The ministry does not dispose of the means to check if the number of declarations (of people who returned from the UK) is exhaustive," Lenert told the deputies, adding that the government relied on people's voluntary compliance.
As of the start of this month, people returning from the UK no longer need to quarantine and report to the ministry as the delta variant has now also become dominant in Luxembourg, Lenert said.
The UK is much stricter in enforcing rules to contain the spread of the virus. Non-vaccinated travellers to the UK from a so-called "amber list" country - which includes Luxembourg - must show proof they are in the possession of two tests, which they are required to take during a mandatory 10-day isolation period, according to a UK government website.
Authorities in the UK check in on people by phone to confirm whether they are observing the quarantine measures and ask them to provide their test results. Police officers may also carry out house inspections and non-compliance with the rules could lead to a £10,000 fine, according to UK government legislation.
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