The government of the Netherlands has placed Greece’s islands on its orange list for destinations approved for essential travel alone. The decision comes a day after the United Kingdom placed travel restrictions on people returning from seven Greek islands – forcing them to undergo a two-week COVID-19 quarantine on return to the country.

Kathemerini reported that under the new directive from the Netheralnds Foreign Ministry has advised that its citizens were “strongly discouraged” from travelling to the Greek islands and those who did would undergo 10 days of self-isolation on their return.

The directive, however, states that citizens travelling to mainland Greece did not need to cancel their plans but it advised that they follow health safety regulations and exercise caution.

Meanwhile, it was reported on Tuesday that about 60,000 Britons were trying to return home before seven Greek islands were added to the UK’s quarantine red list that was to take effect at 4am on Wednesday. (9 September).

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Quoting the Daily Mail, British holidaymakers in Crete, Lesvos, Mykonos, Santorini, Serifos, Tinos and Zakynthos were shocked to hear that UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had added the islands to the UK’s red list of destinations. The decision was announced following reports of a spike in COVID cases especially in Mykonos, Zakynthos and Crete.

The newspaper said that prices for air tickets had nearly trebled following the announcement. Those returning after the deadline will be required to undergo 14 days of self-isolation.

The BBC reported that there had been some confusion over the UK announcement since Scotland and Wales announced last week their own travel restrictions for all parts of Greece and Portugal.

Greece and its islands have been the latest countries to fall under UK and separate Welsh and Scottish directives that began on 27 July with restrictions applied to travelers from Spain. Since then the list has grown to include many European countries, some Caribbean island nations and French Polynesia.