'Annoyed' holidaymakers prepare to quarantine for two weeks as they return from Croatia

"It’s annoying because it seemed perfectly safe over there, as safe as anywhere else"
Holidaymakers land at Heathrow Airport
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Imogen Braddick22 August 2020

British holidaymakers returning from Croatia have expressed their anger at the sudden change in quarantine rules.

The UK Government announced on Thursday that travellers returning to the UK from Croatia after 4am on Saturday would have to quarantine for 14 days.

Passengers arriving at Heathrow Airport after Saturday’s early morning deadline said they had "no time" to travel back from the country ahead of the deadline.

Two sisters returning from Dubrovnik had to get an overnight ferry to Italy before flying to the UK.

Arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, Karen Emery, 57, who works in a school, and her sister Dionne Emery, both from Newcastle, said: "It’s not like coming back from France, there’s no way out in time.

"They should have given us until Monday, so we could plan a way out, but there wasn’t enough time so our holiday has been cut short.

"They should have never let us go abroad, it’s a disgrace, we knew this could happen but there was no support, no advice from the Government, we were pretty much forgotten about, we were all on our own."

The pair said there was confusion over whether they now have to remain in quarantine for two weeks, having travelled back via Italy.

Brits returning from Croatia must quarantine for 14 days
PA

A London-based tech worker also told of the "complete rush" in getting home.

Neringa Juskauskaite, 27, from Woolwich, south east London, said: "It was all a complete rush, we weren’t given enough time to get home and there were no flights back on Friday, it would have been useful to have a few more days but it is what it is.

"Luckily I’m working from home so this won’t affect me as much as others so I’ll be okay, but I will be stuck in a flat while in quarantine."

Another holidaymaker, from London, called for "airport testing" on her arrival.

The self-employed mother, who gave her name as Sarah, was in Croatia for 10 days with her husband and two teenage daughters before flying back.

"I find it really strange that we’ve been in a country where coronavirus doesn’t seem to be as prominent compared to the UK and yet we’ve now got to quarantine for two weeks," she said.

Couple Scramble Back From Croatia To Beat Two-week Quarantine

"It won’t be as bad for me as I’m working from home, but I have two teenage daughters who will have to quarantine and I can imagine it’s going to be incredibly difficult for them.

"We kind of knew this was coming so we tried to change our flight, but we missed the return time by a few hours.

"They should be doing airport testing, not ruining our holidays."

A father, who gave his name as Simon, from Surrey, was on holiday with his wife and young daughter and told of how "safe" he felt in Croatia.

He said: “Well it’s annoying because it seemed perfectly safe over there, as safe as anywhere else.

"I’m going to be able to work, but life in general will be paused and being in lockdown again won’t be much fun."

British holidaymakers shelled out hundreds of pounds for alternative routes back to the UK after the announcement.

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Liam and Jodie, a couple from Keighley, West Yorkshire, were forced to pay around £800 to travel home via Munich, in a bid to beat the clock.

"There wasn’t an alternative. There are no flights from Pula to the UK on Fridays, only a flight from Zagreb to London runs, but obviously that was fully booked," Liam explained.

"The only (other) flights available were with stops in Spain through Ryanair, but then we would have to quarantine anyway."

The mechanical assembly engineer, said he had started a new job recently so "didn’t want to miss another two weeks work".

He added that they had tried to make the most of their trip despite "the distraction of not knowing what’s going to happen", and were treating their visit to Munich as a "city break we got as an extra".

Additional reporting by the Press Association