The Canary Islands, Mykonos, the Maldives and Denmark have been added to the UK’s list of travel corridors, the government has said. 

From 4am on Saturday, people returning to the UK from these destinations will no longer be asked to self-isolate for 14 days. 

Liechtenstein, however, has been removed from the safe list by the Joint Biosecurity Centre and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is advising against all but essential travel there. 

The full list of travel corridor countries can be found here. 

The news comes amid a surge in cases of Covid-19 in the UK, with huge swathes of the country placed under new local lockdowns. 

A further 21,242 lab-confirmed cases were recorded on Thursday. On Wednesday, 26,688 people had tested positive for coronavirus in the UK in the preceding 24 hours – the highest daily figure ever. 

Prime minister Boris Johnson has refused to follow Wales and Scotland in enforcing a so-called “circuit breaker” national lockdown in England, however.

It was also announced on Thursday that a further 189 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease, bringing the UK total to 44,347.