DAVENPORT, Fla. — A United Kingdom couple who own a second home in Davenport hope the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ease a coronavirus travel ban that has kept them away from their Florida home since March.
"We're not allowed to visit the United States full stop," said John Brailsford, 50. "It's very frustrating that we're not making any progress with this and we've been very patient."
What You Need To Know
- UK couple hopeful for ease in CDC travel rules
- John Brailsford and Stuart Browne have owned a Davenport home for 20 years
- Haven't been able to travel to Fla since March
Brailsford and Stuart Browne, 55, said they purchased their Davenport home 20 years ago, pay all related bills and have contributed to the U.S. economy ever since.
"We've made ourselves part of the community over there, we love the American people, we love the American way of life," said Browne. "We've been part of that for so long now... it's been sort of ripped away."
The CDC travel ban for U.K. residents went into effect on March 16. The COVID-19 risk is high in the U.K., according to the CDC.
"All of the people that would typically come to visit from the U.K.," said Brailsford. "They're very upset that we've made it sort of possible for you to come visit us but it's very difficult for us to go there."
The couple call being locked out of their second country "unfair." Especially, since American citizens are allowed to travel to the U.K. as long as they quarantine.
Brailsford and Browne said they purchased their Davenport home 20 years ago, pay all related bills and have contributed to the U.S. economy ever since. (Photo courtesy John Brailsford)
"We now feel that if that arrangement is there for the American citizens to come and quarantine over here for 14 days," said Browne. "We should be able to come to our wonderful state in Florida and quarantine there for 14 days."
We asked the CDC if there was an end date set yet for the travel ban or if exceptions could be made for property owners but we did not get a response by our deadline.
The couple said they hope the U.S. travel restrictions are eased with the proper safety protocol in place.
"By no means are we saying that you should just open up everything and let loads of English people flying over," said Browne. "We're not saying that but if there's some sort of structure."
"I think that reciprocally we need to get some process in place that would encourage people to come back to the United States," said Brailsford. "Follow the rules and the guidelines and make sure everything is safe and done correctly."
Other countries on the U.S. travel ban list include the Schengen Zone, Ireland, Iran, Brazil and China.
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