Travel restrictions and self-isolation (quarantine) rules have been implemented across the UK since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of the public.

Since 15th February 2021, travellers arriving directly into Scotland from any country outside the Common Travel Area (UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands) must quarantine for ten days and have a valid Managed Quarantine Facility booked prior to their departure, unless they have an exemption. More detailed information for travellers arriving in Scotland is available on the Scottish Government website.

The rules between each of the UK four nation countries vary, and travellers should follow the rules both for the UK nation they will be arriving into and their home nation. Further information for travellers arriving into England, Wales and Northern Ireland is available.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides guidance on travelling abroad, including the latest information on COVID-19 and other non-COVID-19 risks such as safety and security, entry requirements, and travel warnings. This guidance is being kept under constant review and may change at short notice.

Country specific COVID-19 risk

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.

Advice for travellers

Before planning or booking international travel, travellers should consider if their journey is essential and legally permitted.  The following sources should be consulted both prior to travel and during the trip, as guidance may change at short notice: 

• the FCDO website, for country specific Travel Advisory Notices regarding travel and entry restrictions, and review the local medical care available at your destination 
• the COVID-19 risk-rating at your destination, which will be listed in the ‘Alerts’ section of all fitfortravel country pages and the ‘Emerging Health Risks’ section of all TRAVAX country pages 
• the TRAVAX travel insurance page, as such insurance should be considered essential 
• the fitfortravel COVID-19 health considerations for travel page 
• the UK Border Control website, in order to check current rules regarding self-isolation (quarantine) before your planned return to the UK 
• requirements for COVID-19 testing at their destination prior to return to the UK

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

Source: TRAVAX, 15 February 2021

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has published a threat assessment brief, which considers the risk of infection related to avian influenza A(H5N8) virus in the general population and the occupationally exposed. On 20 February 2021, Russian authorities reported the detection of influenza A(H5N8) virus infection in seven workers on a poultry farm in the south of Russia, in an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N8) virus. All seven cases were reported to be mild or asymptomatic.

No previous transmission to humans has been reported from EU/EEA countries, or any other country globally related to A(H5Nx) viruses, since its first introduction to Europe in 2014. This assessment is the first report providing virological evidence of a zoonotic transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) virus from birds to humans, with no evidence of human-to-human transmission. The ECDC highlight that this threat assessment brief is based on limited data, and therefore there is uncertainty regarding the conclusions reached. Furthermore, the ECDC report that the risk of infection related to avian influenza A (H5N8) virus for the general public is assessed as very low, and for occupationally exposed people as low.

Source: ECDC, 24 February 2021

On 1 February 2020, the twenty-seventh meeting of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) regarding the international spread of wild poliovirus, was convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The committee agreed that the situation still constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and recommended the extension of the temporary recommendations.

The committee provided the director-general with updated risk categories as below: 

• A certificate for polio vaccination under IHR (2005) is required for travellers from countries listed below, which are infected with WPV1, cVDPV1 or cVDPV3, with the potential risk of international spread: 
  
  
  • Afghanistan (WPV1) 
  • Malaysia (cVDPV1) 
  • Pakistan (WPV1) 
  • Philippines (cVDPV1) 
  • Yemen (cVDPV1) 
    
    
• While travellers are encouraged to carry proof of polio vaccination, there is no certificate requirement under IHR (2005) for countries listed below, which are infected with cVDPV2, with potential or demonstrated risk of international spread, with the exception of Afghanistan, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines, which are also infected with WPV1 or cVDPV1: 
  
  
  • Afghanistan 
  • Angola 
  • Benin 
  • Burkina Faso 
  • Cameroon 
  • Central African Republic 
  • Chad 
  • Congo 
  • Cote d’Ivoire 
  • Democratic Republic of Congo 
  • Egypt 
  • Ethiopia 
  • Ghana 
  • Guinea 
  • Iran 
  • Liberia 
  • Malaysia 
  • Mali 
  • Niger 
  • Nigeria 
  • Pakistan 
  • Philippines 
  • Sierra Leone 
  • Somalia 
  • South Sudan 
  • Sudan 
  • Tajikistan 
  • Togo 
• States no longer infected by WPV1 or cVDPV, but which remain vulnerable to re-infection by WPV or cVDPV: 
  
  
  • China 
  • Indonesia 
  • Mozambique 
  • Myanmar 
  • Zambia

Advice for travellers and further information on poliomyelitis can be found on the TRAVAX (for health professionals) and fitfortravel (for the general public) websites.

Source: TRAVAX, 24 February 2021

El Salvador has become the first country in Central America to be awarded a certification of malaria elimination by the World Health Organization (WHO). The certification follows more than 50 years of commitment by the Salvadoran government and people to ending the disease in a country with dense population and geography hospitable to malaria.

Certification of malaria elimination is granted by the WHO when a country has proven, beyond reasonable doubt, that the chain of indigenous transmission has been interrupted nationwide for at least the previous three consecutive years. With the exception of one outbreak in 1996, El Salvador steadily reduced its malaria burden over the last three decades. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of malaria cases declined from more than 9000 to 26. The country has reported zero indigenous cases of the disease since 2017.

El Salvador is the third country to have achieved malaria-free status in recent years in the WHO Region of the Americas, following Argentina in 2019 and Paraguay in 2018. Seven countries in the region were certified from 1962 to 1973. Globally, a total of 38 countries and territories have reached this milestone.

Source: WHO, 25 February 2021

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have published the EU one health zoonoses report for 2019. The first and second most reported zoonoses in humans were campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis, respectively, with the EU trend for confirmed human cases of these two diseases being stable from 2015 to 2019. Campylobacteriosis, which has been the most reported gastrointestinal disease in EU since 2005, affected more than 220,000 people in 2019, while salmonellosis, the second most reported zoonotic disease in the EU, affected around 88,000 people.

The next most reported diseases were Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections, yersiniosis and listeriosis. The trend of confirmed human cases of listeriosis was stable from 2015 to 2019, after a long period of increase. There were 2,621 cases reported in 2019, mainly affecting people over 64 years old, and was the most severe zoonotic disease, with high rates of hospitalisation (92%) and fatality (17.6%).

The report also monitors the cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the EU, events during which at least two people contract the same illness from the same contaminated food. Salmonella remained the most frequently detected agent, causing 926 outbreaks, but the number of outbreaks due to S. Enteritidis decreased. The most common sources of salmonellosis outbreaks were eggs and egg products. Noroviruses in fish and fishery products caused the highest number (145) of outbreaks that have strong evidence implicating a food source. A total of 5,175 foodborne outbreaks were reported in 2019, a decrease of 12.3% compared to 2018.

The report also includes data on Mycobacterium bovis/caprae, Brucella, Yersinia, Trichinella, Echinococcus, Toxoplasma gondii, rabies, Q fever, West Nile virus and tularaemia. 

Sources: ECDC, 25 February 2021 and EFSA, 25 February 2021

On 24 February 2021, the Scottish Government published its ‘Rare Disease Scotland: Final Progress Report’. The Scottish Implementation Plan was first published in 2014, following the release of the UK-wide strategy for rare diseases in November 2013. This final report evaluates Scotland’s progress against each of the 51 commitments set out in the 2013 strategy, covering the following five themes:

• empowering those affected by rare diseases 
• identifying and preventing rare diseases 
• diagnosis and early intervention 
• co-ordination of care 
• the role of research

Source: Scottish Government, 24 February 2021

Food Standards Scotland (FSS), Public Health Scotland (PHS), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Public Health England (PHE) have issued a further reminder to consumers that care should be taken when handling and cooking frozen raw breaded chicken products, such as nuggets, goujons, dippers, poppers and kievs.

This reminder comes as a multi-agency investigation is taking place into a suspected rise in cases of Salmonella linked to processed chicken products over the past year. Since January 2020, there have been 480 cases of salmonellosis across the UK, caused by two strains of Salmonella enteritidis linked to frozen, raw, breaded chicken products. Of these cases, 42 were in Scotland.

FSS has advised that people should always follow good hygiene practices to help reduce the risk of food poisoning, including:

• always carefully checking the advice on food packaging and following the cooking instructions provided
• following instructions to thaw or defrost before cooking, if required
• consuming or freezing food by its use-by date
• washing hands after touching raw chicken products, and before handling ready-to-eat food
• avoiding cross-contamination by cleaning any surface, plate or utensil that has been in contact with raw meat

Source: FSS, 19 February 2021

The Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill has been passed by the Scottish Parliament, containing legislation which aims to help cut emissions, reduce fuel poverty, and create green jobs by accelerating the deployment of heat networks. By supporting the growth of heat networks, clusters of homes and businesses will be able to get heating from a central source rather than individual fossil fuel boilers, making it safer for customers and more efficient.

The bill establishes a new licensing system designed to drive up standards across the sector, with the aim of improving consumer confidence. A consent system will also be introduced to make sure that new networks are developed in areas where they will have most benefit, and are tailored to its needs. The Scottish Government estimates that heat networks will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 90,000 cars by 2050, and generate annual fuel savings of around £130 for every household that connects to one.

Source: Scottish Government, 23 February 2021

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has warned of a new trend in waste crime, after two abandoned trailers full of waste appeared in the central belt of Scotland in recent weeks. Similar instances of waste being placed into trailers and abandoned at roadsides and industrial locations have also been reported in England over recent months. Investigations are being undertaken by SEPA to establish the source of the trailers, which could lead to the prosecution of those responsible.

Source: SEPA, 22 February 2021