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British expatriates living in the kingdom have made a mad dash to Bahrain International Airport to beat the UK’s Tuesday deadline of adding Bahrain to its Covid-19 ‘red list’ of countries.
They flew back home to Blighty on British Airways and Gulf Air flights over the weekend to avoid having to splash out on booking a quarantine hotel package – for 10 full days – at a cost of an extra £1,750 (approximately BD900).
Business consultant and long-term Bahrain resident David Axtell, 50, from Saar, heard about the possible classification following speculation in the British media. “Rumours of the red list did kick me into action,” he admitted.
“I wanted to get back to the UK this summer because my daughter has finished sixth form and will be starting university there and I was keen to watch and play some cricket.”
His brother, Michael, lives near Bristol and he can ‘home isolate’ on his farm instead of being forced into an airport hotel room stay.
“There will be plenty of time for zoom meetings,” Mr Axtell added. “I’ve several calls lined up to the US so I’ll be a couple of hours better off too!”
The same goes for sports columnist Kristian Harrison, 29, also from Saar, who said: “I managed to secure one of the last ‘economy’ priced seats on the last BA flight out of Bahrain before the deadline.
“A friend who I play football with was scrambling round to find an affordable flight as the last time I checked there were only a couple of business class seats left on my flight!
“I was planning to fly home to see my dad, Shaun, in Southport in July so it made absolute sense to drop everything and leave as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I’ve not had time to say a personal goodbye to a lot of my friends here.
“But wasting all that money on a forced hotel stay was never an option.”
Business executive Malcolm Palmer, 64, cut off his retirement celebrations in Bahrain early and decided to take a detour via Greece, on the UK’s amber list, to avoid the red barrier.
After a farewell business meeting in the UAE, already on the UK red-list, he was planning a 10-day stay in Bahrain before flying directly to Heathrow.
The Reza Hygiene regional manager for the Gulf and former Saar resident, who first came to the region at the age of 25, arrived on a Gulf Air flight to Athens at the weekend.
“I must admit I shed a few tears when I left but I was anxious to leave in time rather than pay for a grotty hotel room, have cold pizza delivered each day under the door and pay £1,750 for the privilege!
“Instead, I paid around £450 for a few days in Athens. It was a bit more expensive to take an indirect route to the UK but what a great way to end a career with a great city holiday!”
Once he gets back to England he will self-isolate in his family home in North Yorkshire for 10 days to enjoy the start of a happy retirement.
As reported in the GDN, according to the UK Department of Transport, only British or Irish nationals – or those with residency – will be allowed into the UK if they have been in a country or territory that has been on the red list 10 days prior to arrival to the UK.
Travellers to the UK will now have to take a PCR test 72 hours prior to boarding the flight. They will also have to book a quarantine hotel package – for 10 full days – as well as take another PCR test on day two and eight of quarantine.
“Book a managed quarantine hotel within a 14-day period before arrival,” the Department of Transport said on its official website.
“The booking will include your hotel, quarantine transport and tests for Covid-19 on day two and eight of quarantine.
“Complete a passenger locator form with details of where you will quarantine when you arrive.”
A quarantine package invoice number is vital to complete the form.
The number of red-list countries, from which the risk of coronavirus transmission is higher, has reached 50. It includes most of South America and Africa, as well as the UAE, Qatar, Oman, India and Turkey. Bahrain was put on the red-list after it was downgraded from amber along with Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Sudan and Trinidad and Tabago.
With the number of new cases starting to fall in the kingdom and with the large number of the population vaccinated, travel experts are confident Bahrain will not stay too long on the UK’s red-list.
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