Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic update

20 October 2020

Article: 54/4202

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to evolve, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises British nationals against all but essential travel, exempting some countries that no longer pose an unacceptably high risk for British travellers. This advice is being kept under constant review and may change at short notice.

The fitfortravel (for the general public) and TRAVAX (for health professionals) country pages have been updated to include a COVID-19 country specific risk-rating, with every country being identified as high, moderate or low risk and each rating accompanied by appropriate travel advice. This information will be listed in the ‘Alerts’ section on each country page of fitfortravel and the 'Emerging Health Risks' section of every TRAVAX country page.

This risk-rating is based on a robust public health assessment of the COVID-19 risks for travellers to each country and is regularly reviewed. Since September 2020, the COVID-19 risk to UK travellers has decreased for the following countries: 

  • Greek islands of Crete, Lesvos, Milos (Serifos), Tinos, Santorini and Zakynthos 
  • Cayman Islands 
  • Australia (Victoria state)

The COVID-19 risk rating and travel advice from the FCDO is being kept under constant review and may change at short notice. All travellers are advised to continue following sensible precautions and consider the following sources of information listed below.

Advice for travellers

Before planning and/or booking international travel, please check: 

Information relating to travel and COVID-19 is available on the TRAVAX (for healthcare practitioners) and fitfortravel (for the general public) websites.

Information on COVID-19 for the general public is available on the NHS Inform (Scotland) and the NHS.UK (rest of the UK) websites.

Information and resources on COVID-19 for health professionals is available on the Health Protection Scotland (HPS) (Scotland) and Public Health England (PHE) (rest of the UK) websites.