The Italian Health Ministry on Friday announced the introduction of a five-day compulsory quarantine for all travellers coming into the country from the United Kingdom.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza made the announcement on Friday on Facebook as concerns about the spate of a highly contagious coronavirus variant in the UK heightens.

Meanwhile, Speranza announced that the country has lifted the restrictions placed on people visiting Italy from the United States, Canada, Japan and other European Union states.

However, the travellers from the aforementioned countries must provide a green certificate that shows they recently tested negative or have been vaccinated against the deadly COVID-19 virus.

In addition, Speranza noted that Italy has extended the ban on travellers arriving from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The statement read, “I signed a new order that allows entry from the European Union countries and the United States, Canada and Japan with Green Certificate requirements, extends entry ban measures from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; and introduces a 5-day quarantine with swab obligation for those from Great Britain.”

While France, Austria and Germany have already imposed restrictions on UK travellers, an Italian health ministry spokesman told Reuters that the new restrictions would be effective from Monday.

Worldometers reports that Italy has recorded a total of 4,249,755 cases of the deadly virus while the UK’s health ministry has recorded over 4.6 million cases since the delay virus was discovered in December 2019.