President welcomes UK decision of taking Portugal of quarantine

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has welcomed as "great news" the UK's decision to lift from Saturday mandatory quarantine for travellers arriving from Portugal.

British authorities made the announcement on Thursday, adding Portugal to a "safe list" of destinations.

The southern European country is reporting between 200 to 300 new daily cases this week, although the spread of contagion seems to have receded since early July.

Rebelo de Sousa, who is on a work holiday tour visiting all Portuguese regions to show his support for the tourism sector, told reporters on Thursday that the move will benefit the tourism industry, especially in the southern Algarve region where he expects that UK citizens will make bookings for the late summer season in September and October.

The president said that the measure would also benefit some 300,000 Portuguese citizens who live and work in the UK.

The Algarve in southern Portugal is one of the favourite destinations for British tourists.

Portugal acted swiftly in the pandemic's early days but experienced significant clusters when it ended its lockdown.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has recorded nearly 55,000 infections and 1,788 fatalities attributed to the virus.