‘Can’t rule out more quarantines’: Grant Shapps warns of disruption due to coronavirus | ITV News

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has warned he “cannot rule out” more countries being added to the UK’s quarantine list, as concerns are raised about coronavirus case rises across Europe.

The government is expected to discuss the “growing concern” around coronavirus in Belgium and Luxembourg while it closely monitors the situation in Croatia after imposing quarantines on returnees from Spain.

Mr Shapps told reporters on his return to the UK from Spain that the decision to impose quarantines was the “right thing to do”, pointing out how Spain had experienced its “highest [rise in cases] since the peak in March”.

The transport secretary, who confirmed he will self-isolate for two weeks after arriving home, explained how he was forced to act swiftly on Spain, with a huge jump in cases between Friday and Saturday.

He said: “We absolutely have to act the moment we get the information and that’s exactly what happened with Spain as we saw and as we’ve seen over the weekend where there was over 6,100 cases – the highest since the peak in March over there.

“It was the right thing to do and it’s why the whole of the UK did (it) at the same time.

“I can’t therefore rule out other countries having to go into the quarantine as well.”

This week Boris Johnson warned there are “signs of a second wave” in parts of the continent.

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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest.

It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376 per square kilometre (970/sq mi). The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

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