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Islanders soaking up the sun in the Balearic Islands will now have to isolate for at least five days upon their return after the holiday spots recorded the highest number of covid infections since the start of the health crisis.
From midnight on Friday 14 August, Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera will change from 'green' status to 'amber'.
Passengers arriving from an amber country are required to undertake two PCR (diagnostic) tests on day zero and day five, isolating inbetween.
The change comes after the Balearic Ministry of Health reported 228 new positive cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to nearly 1,400. The figure was the highest level of new cases recorded in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.
The majority were recorded as being in Mallorca, where there were over 1,100 people with the virus. On Tuesday, 93 were in hospital - 10 of which were in intensive care.
Jersey's government announced this afternoon that Gibraltar will also be moving to amber.
Pictured: The Balearic Islands and Gibraltar will be classified 'amber' from tonight.
Responding to the latest changes, FlyDirect confirmed it will still be operating its scheduled departures to Palma on Sunday 16 and 23 August. However, clients wishing to cancel their bookings will be able to receive a full refund.
The company said that a decision has not yet been made on whether scheduled departures from 30 August onwards will still take off.
"As has been the case throughout this period, the health and safety of our customers is our primary consideration," Managing Director Robert Mackenzie said.
"Now that Majorca has been moved to ‘Amber’ status, we believe it is right to provide the option for our clients to cancel their bookings for the next two weekend departures. Of course, those who still wish to travel can do so, but they will need to observe the rules surrounding testing and quarantine on their return to Jersey."
Meanwhile, the number of covid cases per 100,000 are continuing to rise in Poland, Cyprus and Denmark.
Under Jersey's travel guidance system, countries are generally designated green if they have 0-25 cases per 100,000 people, amber for 25-120, and red for more than 120.
Pictured: Poland is likely to be designated amber within the next few days.
Poland currently has 24.4, Cyprus 24.1 and Denmark has 24.7.
A Government spokesperson added: "We are also issuing a warning that Poland, Cyprus and Denmark are likely to move to amber in the next few days, to give islanders some notice."
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