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tv   BBC News  BBC News  July 26, 2020 10:00am-10:30am BST

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this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. anyone arriving in the uk from spain now has to quarantine for two weeks because of a spike in cases there. the short notice change came into force at midnight in the uk. some british tourists rushed to get home. we were due to arrive at about 20 past midnight, but then we made it two minutes and the pilot announced it and everybody was cheering. couldn't believe it. british holiday-makers' plans have been thrown into chaos with some cancelling their trips or deciding to stay in spain for longer. from my experience everywhere is taking the response a lot more seriously here, so i might as well stay here if coming back to the uk is going to be a lot more logistically difficult. hurricane
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hanna makes landfall in southern texas with us officials are warning ofa texas with us officials are warning of a life—threatening storm surge, strong winds and heavy rains. today marks a real step forward for crowds returning to live sporting events. 1000 fans will be here at the oval in london to watch a test event for county cricket. hello and welcome if you are watching in the uk or around the world. stay with us for the very latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. let's go to spain now and the latest developments there, because the authorities in the uk i saying that
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the new quarantine measures that the uk has announced four people who travel there are now in force. the foreign office has advised against all nonessential travel to mainland spain but the canary and balearic islands are exempt, meaning you can still go on your holiday there, but all travellers returning from spain, including its islands into the uk must enter a 1k day quarantine. the new rules mean travel plans of thousands of people have been thrown into chaos. this morning the uk foreign secretary dominic raab insisted the government must be able to ta ke insisted the government must be able to take swift and decisive action to tackle fears of a second wave of coronavirus. pa: face coverings are required at all times. manchester airport saw some of the last flights arriving from spainjust minutes before the midnight deadline. these women had brought forward their departure to avoid quarantine. it was crazy. it all happened so quickly. no—one knows what's going on in there.
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it's mad, isn't it? yeah, we were supposed to come back on monday and we just got the next flight home. how do you feel about the fact you've just missed that deadline by 30 minutes? i'm glad. i can't stay in for two weeks. so, yeah, happy days. the news will come as a bitter blow to tens of thousands of british holiday—makers already in spain and those planning to head there soon. this couple have already made a decision not to travel. although we could go on the holiday, because we'd booked holidays, we can't come back and then stay in the house for two weeks. thatjust wouldn't be possible. so we can't then go on holiday because we can't come back and quarantine for two weeks. the new foreign office advice comes in the wake of rising coronavirus infections in parts of spain — especially in catalonia and neighbouring aragon and navarre. the government said difficult choices had to be made. whenever a decision is made, there will always be people who have just left the uk. there are always people behind and in front of the line. so there is no magic time
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at which to do this. the thing that we have to do is do it as soon as we are certain about the data and feel certain that it is time to act. and we take the advice from thejoint biosecurity centre very seriously indeed. and we don't delay when those signals come in. the advice against all—but—essential travel applies only to mainland spain. but everyone returning from any part of the country will have to self—isolate for two weeks. the level of infection is lower in some parts of spain. the regional governments of the canaries and the balearic islands are asking to be excluded from the need to quarantine. the tour operator tui has cancelled its flights to spain — other airlines are continuing to operate for the time being. the aircraft 0perators association said the government should look urgently at the possibility of testing as an alternative to quarantine. this news will have a devastating
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effect more widely on confidence in foreign travel. if spain now, where next? andy moore, bbc news. andy is at gatwick airport. he has been speaking to passengers there and says people feel the government's decision on the restrictions on travellers coming to the uk from spain have come out of the uk from spain have come out of the blue. i think everyone knew that these averages may open up and other places may close down but i don't think anybody expected it to happen within the space ofjust a couple of hours, so this decision has taken a lot of people by surprise, a lot of people coming back into the uk, and those who are going off to spain who will have difficult decisions to make. so the carrier tui has decided to cancel all of its flights to spain. there was supposed to be one to malaga this morning from here at gatwick. that won't be happening. but easyjet on the other hand, their
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flight but easyjet on the other hand, their flight to malaga did take off. british airways also are continuing to run their flights for the time being. amongst the travel operators and the airlines, obviously a lot of disappointment at this decision. some of them i saying, well, why are you closing down the entire country when there is a lot of regional differences, as we were hearing, within spain? the governments of the ca nary islands and within spain? the governments of the canary islands and the balearic islands are trying to get exemption from this decision that british holiday—makers should go into quarantine. also worth mentioning that this is a uk wide decision. sometimes the devolved governments going different directions, but this decision applies in scotland, wales, northern ireland and england. so eve ryo ne northern ireland and england. so everyone returning to the uk from spain will have to go into this very stringent quarantine for two weeks. they are not supposed to take public transport if at all possible to get to their destination, and once they
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are there they can't even go out to do exercise for an hour or two every day. that's andy moore at gatwick airport. guy head coe is in madrid and has the latest on how those uk measures are being received in spain. the spanish foreign ministry has said it respects this decision by the uk government and it is maintaining contact with the uk authorities on this issue. it has also said that spain is a safe place to visit and any outbreaks of coronavirus in the country i very much localised and under control. it was very keen to underline that point. this comes as numbers of cases have been rising over the last few days, the last couple of weeks. we have seen, for example, in the north—eastern region of catalonia, the closure of all nightclubs there for the next two weeks. that's because the local authorities there are worried about the spread of the contagion among younger people. but
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clearly this is going to have a big impact on the tourism sector. british visitors tend to make up around a quarter of the total of foreign visitors to spain each year. the british market is the single biggest market for the spanish tourism industry. so this is a huge blow to the tourism industry and it comes when the industry was already reeling after the early part of the tourism season. it was basically com pletely tourism season. it was basically completely wiped out. the hope was that spain could have something like a normal peak season injuly and august and that clearly is not going to happen now. that clearly will have an impact on the broader spanish economy, as well. that's guy hedgecoe in madrid. let's get more from helen catt. there is some criticism of the way the government announced this at the very last minute, catching a lot of people by surprise. absolutely. the government has always said that it could change
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the status of countries on this exempt list and it is worth thinking about why that exempt list exists and that is because when the policy for quality was brought in last month it applied to virtually every country in the world. a lot of mps we re country in the world. a lot of mps were worried about the effect it would have on the aviation industry, they were agitated to get that relaxed a little and to have some countries where it was deemed safe enough to go, where the quarantine could be removed. so the covenant came up with this list of countries which were thought to be of a similar level of risk or lower to the uk. in terms of coronavirus. the situation in spain with that spike has now changed, so that is why the advice has changed. but of course, as you said, the issue is this very quick turnaround. it has come in with matter of hours. dominic raab, the foreign secretary, defended that elliott. we must be able to gauge the data in real—time, which we did. the data coming through on friday, then take decisive action. if we
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suddenly say we are not sure and give vague advice it will create more uncertainty. look, know. there isa more uncertainty. look, know. there is a cut—off in changes with the advice and reels we give so i appreciate that is difficult and can be disruptive but it would be far worse to muddy the waters or to hold back and delay from taking the measures when we need to take them. of course the reason this was taken at reasonably short notice was because of the spike in spain that we responded to, which came... we we responded to, which came... we were following that and that's where it happened. it was the real—time response, the data we were getting from spain, that we had to respond to very swiftly. dominic raab saying it was a real—time response but that real—time response is frankly catching a lot of people on the hop. it is there in spain, someone deciding, do i stay now? what do i do? i don't want to go into quarantine. very much so. not least the man who is actually in charge of this policy, grant shapps, he is on holiday in spain and has been caught out and will have to quarantine when he himself gets back. of course it will cause some really big problems
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for people who are now forcing for —— facing 1a days of isolation they won't find work. the government had said it wants employers to be sympathetic to that. dominic raab earlier were saying nobody should be penalised by their boss were following the rules and self isolating in this way. but there are some serious questions around how that will work in practice and the shadow health secretaryjohn as hworth shadow health secretaryjohn ashworth was very critical of this this morning. the way in which this decision has been made in the past 24 hours is rightly shambolic. there are holiday— makers in 24 hours is rightly shambolic. there are holiday—makers in spain at the moment confused and distressed. there are people about to go on holiday to spain and the islands like tenerife who are confused and they don't know whether their employers will allow them to take two we e ks employers will allow them to take two weeks of quarantine. the government to saying, oh, we help employers cooperate, well, you know, to be frank, i hope i win the lottery on saturday but it doesn't mean it will happen. we need clarity from government now as to whether those who were asked to quarantine, whether they will get financial support if their employers refuses
quote
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them, and we need clarity around clarity for those holiday— makers currently in spain you are probably safer for their family holiday, who are confused and distressed a. there is that immediate impact on people coming back from spain but also that wider question the government will have to look at in the next few days, that the point of this policy was to help restore some sort of confidence in the aviation industry. does the speed at which the rules are changing undermine that? all right. helen, for the moment. helen catt, political correspondent. giles hancock is a british tourist on holiday —— mccrone charles hancock isa holiday —— mccrone charles hancock is a british tourist on holiday in spain. thanks for being weak us. what is your reaction and how does it affect you? good morning. we first heard last night, one of my neighbours came and asked if we'd heard the news. 0bviously neighbours came and asked if we'd heard the news. obviously we hadn't but they said we would have a quarantine put in place and that obviously affects me. i've been here a week on a family property, doing a
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bit of maintenance and having a holiday. now i'm thinking, when i return, i have to quarantine 14 days. going back to that original lockdown, it feels like. is that going to change your plans in any way? some people are saying maybe they will just stay a bit longer in spain and see if the policy changes again ina spain and see if the policy changes again in a week or two. that would be lovely, i would love to stay longer. i would love to be working at the university of derby from here, it would be wonderful. u nfortu nately we a re here, it would be wonderful. unfortunately we are coming back, i have leave booked. all the children are grown up now, we were supposed to go away to wales for a long weekend but we now have to think about that. we've booked a b&b, we have to think about what to do, stay isolated. when you have to go into quarantine for a couple of weeks what are your thoughts about that, and what about your employer? will you take that as leave or will you hope that that is not counted as leave ? hope that that is not counted as leave? it is interesting because i booked the leave already, i planned
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to go back in once to clear my office space to create a space for classrooms, but my thoughts are... we worked really well at the university of derby. it's going to bea university of derby. it's going to be a case of quarantine at home and consider whether it's leave or taking self isolation. what do you think of the decision itself? is this the right decision by the uk? and what is the reaction in spain? because a lot of people have spoken to say actually they feel safer in spain in some ways than they do in the uk when it comes to coronavirus. interestingly, the first reaction is... my thoughts work of leicester, they have knocked down locally and there are relatively low number throughout the whole period. you could localise it to people returning from madrid or barcelona.
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have a local approach, be smarter. i'm sure the other thing would be to be tested at the airport, so instead of locking us down for 14 days, test, track and trace as soon as we arrived. i wouldn't mind being tested at the airport at all, that is not a problem. people are considering here, a lot of them are self employed and are considering either staying here a bit longer or someone deciding to go back and start work again, basically, but from home. my partner louisa said this morning, right, i need to book some food in, so trying to get onto the morrisons website and spaces are going quickly, so it has a knock—on effect. really good to talk to you. enjoy the rest of your holiday if you can and good luck with the quarantine. charles hancock for us in spain. sean tipton is from abta — the uk travel trade association for tour operators and travel agents.
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thanks for being with us. this is a devastating blow to the travel industry, isn't it? yeah. spain is incredibly important to our members. it is by far the single most important destination we send customers too. any normal year, they would probably be over1 million british holiday—makers in spain. 0bviously because of what has been going on the numbers are a lot lower, but as soon as lockdown was removed and people were able to travel abroad, a lot of them thought the first thing they wanted to do was go to spain. we have had from people who are there now. the thing for us is this came out of the blue for us is this came out of the blue for us, as well. it will cause a lot of problems for travel companies who now have to contact customers who are due to travel out today or tomorrow because imminent departures, they need to be informed. it is all over the news but some people might not be aware of this. if you have a package holiday booked they will be offering alternative destinations or saying do you want to go later in the year? 0r do you want to go later in the year? or would you like to have a credit?
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lots of different options that we need to discuss with people at short notice. it will be very disappointing because a lot of this is people have been waiting so long to go on holiday and then to have this disappointment at the last minutes, not the best. it is pretty clear. i know spain very well, might partner is spanish, and they take coronavirus incredibly seriously. they have done generally a pretty good job about restricting it and local people will always wear face masks. they are very, very strict about that. the problem at the moment is that in limited parts of spain, in northern spain, in catalonia, around barcelona, as i said, catalonia is a tourist destination, i won't deny that. but it is quite some distance away from places like the costa del sol on the mainland and also clearly quite some distance from the islands. i think may be a more targeted approach is a sensible way to go and that is exactly what the authorities in the balearic islands and the canary aloes are asking for. the level of infection that is pretty low. do you
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think the timing of this decision, some more notice should have been given for the timing was elephant us, of course. we wouldn't go public with something like this as it is the decision for the government. but if something like this is going to happen, we need a bit of prior warning, it is essential for travel companies. now they have a logistical serious issue, having to get hold of people and tell them what their options are. so, yes, a bit more warning would be ideal. of course the government did say it would monitor the situation closely in terms of any destination, but even so, a bit of prior warning would be helpful. we had this morning from dominic raab saying this was a real—time decision, they had to make it. the deputy chief medical officer for england saying there is no magic time to make this sort of decision. you just have to make it when you see the data. so they are saying effectively it is very ha rd to they are saying effectively it is very hard to give advance notice of this kind of decision. that's as may
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be, but if there is any way you possibly can, then please do so. that is something our members would find incredibly helpful. more to the point, as i said, a targeted approach would be very, very helpful stop spain is a big country. the problem seems to be located in the north of the country. although parts are doing pretty well. certainly if you look at the islands, and that is where the majority of british holiday—makers will be heading to, it will be the balearic islands, to be fair, a lot of people go to spain but it is mostly the islands. they have done a pretty good job. if you are due to travel out to spain imminently, i think it is important you talk to your airline. if you booked currently with an airline is not a package. 0r booked currently with an airline is not a package. or your tour operator if you booked a package to see what your options are. good advice. thank your options are. good advice. thank you very much. the first hurricane of this year's
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season has hit the us. it has hit areas south of corpus christi. some people have been told to leave their homes and take a supply of face with them. hurricane hanna was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane on saturday. with wind speeds of around 120 kilometres an hour, it could bring storm surges of up to two metres. i've been keeping in contact with my mum and we've, like, gassed up our truck and stuff like that so that if anything occurs, we can, like, take off, like, somewhere safer, so right now, we're just waiting to hear how worse it's going to get or if it's just going to stay like this, so we're praying for the best. preparing for the hurricane has been further complicated by the coronavirus pandemic. the us is struggling to keep the virus under control, and texas has so far recorded
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over 375,000 cases. several communities have been evacuated, and the governor has issued a disaster declaration. do not in haste take action that could cause you, a family member or loved one to lose their life in the coming weeks to covid—19 by disregarding all of these practices that we've become accustomed to using, such as wearing a face mask as you respond to covid—19, maintaining distance where possible and, most importantly, avoid gatherings of more than just a few family members. in a storm season which forecasters say could be one of the most active in recorded history because of abnormally warm water and other climate conditions, concern is mounting as hurricane hanna is expected to move inland and into north—eastern mexico. sophia tran—thomson, bbc news.
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a 12—week health plan for people trying to lose weight is expected to form part of a national strategy on obesity due to be announced by borisjohnson tomorrow. gps will also be able to prescribe cycling as a way of slimming down. the prime minister is taking action after research by public health england found that being overweight or obese puts patients with covid—19 at greater risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from the infection. speaking to bbc breakfast this morning, professor jonathan valabhji, the nhs national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, says two thirds of the population are overweight or obese. every single action that we take is likely to have an important but small impact. the more actions we have in our portfolio, the more we are likely to see parts of something quite substantial is that we have a significant problem. as i
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