Following the U.K. Government’s announcement of a new lockdown — termed ‘Tier 4’ — for some areas of England, the London Office issued an advisory
A Government spokesperson said, “In view of the U.K. Government announcement on Tier 4 and specifically relating to Bermudians in the U.K. involving their travel, the London Office is advising as below.
“In line with UK Government guidance, individuals resident in a Tier 4 area must not leave their primary place of residence unless such travel is essential [e.g. for work or education purposes]. If an individual requires to travel they must stay within their local area and look to reduce the number of journeys they make overall; this includes a ban on international travel.
“If an individual is ordinarily resident in Bermuda and travelled to the UK for purposes of vacation, education, or medical reasons the current rules allow for their travel to return to Bermuda.
“To confirm which Tier you are currently resident in, please refer here. For more information on Tier 4 restrictions, please refer here.
“The next review of the Tier system is due to take place on 30 December, from which these rules may change. It is therefore advisable to keep updated on any such developments during this time.
“In the meantime, it is also advisable to keep updated on your flight status via British Airways to be aware of any changes here,” the statement concluded.
Information on UK ‘Tier 4’ restrictions via the BBC:
What are the new restrictions in tier four? The restrictions are similar to the last national lockdown in England, in November. They include:
- Residents should stay at home, unless they have a “reasonable excuse” such as work or education
- All non-essential retail will have to close, along with hairdressers, nail bars, and indoor entertainment venues
- Gyms and indoor swimming pools, indoor sports courts and dance studios must close
- No-one in tier four will be allowed to join Christmas Day bubbles in tiers one to three
- You cannot meet other people indoors, unless you live with them or they are part of your support bubble
- People should not leave tier four areas or travel abroad, except in limited circumstances (including work and education)
- Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies are not allowed except in exceptional circumstances
In addition, some nations worldwide have placed restrictions on flights from the UK, with the BBC reporting that “more than 40 countries have banned UK arrivals because of concerns about the spread of a new variant of coronavirus.
“Flights from the UK are being suspended to countries across the world including Spain, India and Hong Kong. France shut its border with the UK for 48 hours, meaning no lorries or ferries can leave from the port of Dover,” the BBC said.
The Government’s statement above notes that “if an individual is ordinarily resident in Bermuda and travelled to the UK for purposes of vacation, education, or medical reasons the current rules allow for their travel to return to Bermuda” and also added that “it is also advisable to keep updated on your flight status via British Airways” which appears to indicate there is not, currently, any changes to policy, however we have asked the Government for comment on Bermuda’s position on UK flights and will update if able.
The last set of statistics, released on December 19th, indicate that 27% of the island’s cases to date are imported, while the majority [53%] of cases have been local transmission with known source, local transmission with unknown source currently make up 4%, and 16% are currently classified as ‘under investigation’.
