Passengers from Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas will be required to self-isolate at home or another specified address for 14 days on arrival in the UK from Saturday.

In a tweet, transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “Data shows we need to remove Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas from our list of coronavirus Travel Corridors in order to keep infection rates DOWN.

“If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.”

Speaking about the changes to the quarantine list, Scottish justice secretary Humza Yousaf said:

The governments of all for nations have agreed to these changes based on a shared understanding of the data.

This is another important step in our efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, and adhering to the quarantine is a vital aspect of this.

Imposing quarantine requirements on those arriving from another country is not a decision made lightly - but suppressing the virus and protecting public health remains our priority.

Belgium has suffered a resurgence of the virus, with the country passing 70,000 Covid-19 cases this week. Figures released on Thursday show that it has a rate of 27.8 new cases per 100,000 people compared to the UK’s 8.4.

Belgium also has one of the highest per capita coronavirus death rates in the world, with more than 9,800 fatalities out of a population of about 11 million, and last month announced a series of further restrictive measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.