Italy, San Marino and Vatican City are being taken off the UK travel corridor list from this weekend.

Italy is being removed from the British government's travel corridor list, meaning that those travelling to the UK will have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival.

The new rules also apply to Vatican City and San Marino, and take effect from 04.00 on Sunday 18 October.

The measure, which applies across the UK, was announced yesterday evening by transport secretary Grant Shapps, as Britain updated its coronavirus travel list.

Italy, which is visited by large numbers of British tourists, was one of the last major European countries on the UK safe travel list, reports the BBC.

The UK transport department said Italy was being removed because covid-19 data "indicated the weekly cases and test positivity are increasing."

• New surge in coronavirus infections in Italy

On 15 October Italy registered 8,804 new coronavirus cases, bringing its seven-day rate of cases per 100,000 people to 64.

A rate of 20 cases per 100,000 is the threshold above which the UK government considers imposing quarantine conditions, reports the BBC. In contrast, the UK's case rate currently stands at 166.

“It is, of course, very disappointing to learn of the announcement that Italy has been removed from the UK’s safe travel list," said Flavio Zappacosta, manager of Italy's state tourist board for the UK and Ireland.

“Our cities, coasts, countryside and major attractions are world class" - Zappacosta told The Independent - "We have implemented robust protocols to keep our visitors safe so this is a very disappointing development for tourism in Italy and will surely delay our recovery."

Photo credit: MikeDotta / Shutterstock.com.

TRAVEL CORRIDOR UPDATE: We are REMOVING ITALY, Vatican City state & San Marino from the #TravelCorridor list.

However, note that the implementation date is moved to 4am on SUNDAY 18 October & applies UK wide, if you arrive from these destinations you will need to self-isolate.— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 15, 2020