Here’s the latest advice on whether it’s safe to fly as all passengers on Tui flight told to self isolate

Most airlines now request that masks are worn at all times on board (Photo: Shutterstock)

Nearly 200 passengers onboard a flight to Wales from the Greek Island of Zante have been told to self-isolate due to coronavirus.

There are currently 16 cases of Covid-19 linked to people who took the Tui flight 6215 to Cardiff on 25 August, with Public Health Wales confirming that at least seven people were potentially infectious while on the flight.

So is it safe to be travelling abroad yet? Here’s what you need to know on staying safe if you are making an essential journey.

How did the outbreak occur?

There have been around 30 cases of coronavirus in Wales in the last week that have come back from Zante, with these cases confirmed in people who were on different flights and staying in different locations.

Health officials are now in the process of contacting all 193 people who were on the Tui flight back to Cardiff. All passengers are being considered as close contacts and must self-isolate for 14 days.

Dr Giri Shankar, of Public Health Wales, said that an investigation into positive cases in Wales has indicated that a lack of social distancing between those aged 20 to 30 had “resulted in the spread of the virus to other groups of people”.

Passenger Stephanie Whitfield was on board the Tui flight and described how fellow travellers were not wearing masks correctly and appeared to “disregard” social distancing rules.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Whitfield said: “Many passengers didn’t seem to know how to wear the masks correctly or they seemed to just disregard the rules really.

“Lots of the people were wearing the masks underneath their noses, or even underneath their chins. They were taking the masks off to talk to friends and they were going up and down the aisles to talk to their friends without their masks on.”

Commenting on the crew, Ms Whitfield said she noticed a crew member ask one passenger to put her mask on, but said the vast majority of people were not being spoken to.