Covid: Wembley VIP fans will face restrictions - minister

Uefa officials and fans visiting England for the Euro 2020 final without quarantining will be subject to restrictions, media minister John Whittingdale has said.

Reports suggest up to 2,500 people will be allowed to come from abroad for the matches - the government said discussions around this are ongoing.

Critics argue the move could impact public health.

Mr Whittingdale said they would not be free to travel around the country.

Currently arrivals to the UK from most countries must quarantine for 10 days - with an update on the UK's travel list expected on Thursday.

But under an exemption, Uefa and Fifa officials as well as senior executives from sponsors and partners of Euro 2020 will be able to travel to attend matches without an obligation to self-isolate.

The prime minister's official spokesman said those who were eligible to come would be subject to a "strict code of conduct" which could be expected to include daily testing, staying in designated hotels, the use of designated private transport and the compliance with all other Covid restrictions.

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Shadow defence secretary John Healey said any agreement to allow VIPs to attend the final without quarantining would be wrong, adding it would be "one rule for important people... and one rule for the rest".

Mr Whittingdale said the government was still talking to Uefa about the exact restrictions.

"But if people are allowed in to attend the match then they won't necessarily be allowed to just travel around the country - they will be coming in for a specific purpose," he said.

He said players and staff from other teams had already been coming to the UK for matches "subject to strict restrictions in terms of coming to the country, staying in a designated place, going to the match and then going out again".

Mr Whittingdale said a decision on VIP visitors would be taken with advice from Public Health England and the government would only reach an agreement "if we are absolutely confident that it doesn't put public health at risk".

Downing Street said officials who breached restrictions would face fines.

The UK has reported a further 19 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to the government's coronavirus dashboard - and a further 16,135 cases, an increase of nearly 5,000 on Tuesday's reported figure.

And the number of people in hospital with Covid has reached 1,508 on the most recent count, taken on Monday.

But the UK's vaccination programme has passed another key milestone with more than 60% of the adult population now fully vaccinated.

Former Conservative minister David Davis told the Daily Telegraph allowing people to travel from abroad for the matches without quarantining was "morally inconsistent" with the stance taken towards UK citizens.

Mr Whittingdale also defended plans for 60,000 spectators to attend the semi-finals and final as part of the government's test programme for events.

Fans attending matches at Wembley need to follow a number of strict entry requirements, including having a negative Covid-19 test or proof of full vaccination, which means two vaccine doses, 14 days before the fixture they are attending.

He said that if the events were successful it could "mean we can relax restrictions across the economy". An analysis of a number of test events is to be published soon.

For group fixtures at Euro 2020, Wembley's capacity has been reduced to 22,500 but that is set to be expanded to 45,000 for the latter of two knockout games before the semi-finals.

There had been calls to move the final away from Wembley after ministers delayed plans to lift lockdown restrictions in England from 21 June to 19 July because of an increase in cases, driven by the Delta variant.

And there was speculation the semi-finals and final could be moved to Budapest if VIPs were not given an exemption to England's strict quarantine rules.

Dr David Nabarro, World Health Organization special envoy on Covid-19, told Sky News that from a public health perspective "there are real questions to be asked" about the plans because of the rising number of UK cases but he was "also thinking that it's time for us all to start to work out how we're going to get on with our lives".

But he said people should only be travelling abroad for "absolutely essential" reasons, saying, "it's not yet the time for unrestricted travel to start".

The government has confirmed it is looking into plans for fully vaccinated people to have quarantine-free international travel.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he would "look at what the science says" on such a move and the government would be reviewing the data on Monday.

The Danish Football Association expects to receive an extra allocation of tickets for their Euro 2020 match against Wales because Welsh fans are not allowed to travel to the Netherlands to attend it due to Covid restrictions.

In other developments, Downing Street said the government and Public Health England are monitoring the so-called Delta plus variant of Covid-19.

The prime minister's official spokesman said there had been 41 cases of the mutation, with extra measures in place where it had been found.

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