London, Jul 10 (IANS): Travellers arriving in the UK from dozens of countries will no longer have to self-isolate for two weeks starting from Friday onwards.

The rules were being relaxed for arrivals from 75 countries and British overseas territories, reports the BBC.

From Friday morning, people arriving in the UK from France, Italy, Belgium, Germany and dozens of other countries will no longer have to spend 14 days in quarantine.

But people who arrived from those countries at an earlier point in the last two weeks will still be expected to complete their period of isolation, the government said.

On Friday, the UK government changed its advice for Serbia, no longer allowing travellers to return without quarantining.

But Scotland, which from Friday has also made face coverings mandatory in shops, has said it will continue to quarantine passengers from countries with a higher prevalence of COVID-19 than its own.

It means people arriving in Scotland from Spain will still face quarantine rules.

The Scottish government said data from the UK government showed the prevalence of the virus in Spain is 330 people per 100,000, compared with 28 people per 100,000 in Scotland.

The quarantine rules were introduced in June, with travellers asked to nominate an address where they would self-isolate, with fines of up to 1,000 pounds for those in England who failed to comply, the BBC report said.

However, the Foreign Office's advice against taking a cruise holiday remained in place.

A spokesman said the decision not to change the advice against cruises is based on "medical advice from Public Health England", but it would "continue to review" the position.