Piste clear for new year ski trips under easing of travel quarantine

NEW YEAR ski holidays are to be saved under plans by Grant Shapps to scrap quarantine entirely by replacing it with daily Covid-19 tests for new arrivals to the UK.

The Transport Secretary said he wanted to move to a rapid testing regime in the new year which would mean passengers would no longer have to self-isolate. He believes this could be achieved through daily “lateral flow” tests which are being used in mass testing pilots in Liverpool and other cities and provide results within 30 minutes.

He made the pledge in an interview with The Daily Telegraph as he unveiled the “first step” towards such quarantine-free travel.

From Dec 15 people arriving in the UK will be given a test on the fifth day of their self-isolating period.

This will reduce quarantine by up to nine days if the test results come back negative and could enable relatives living abroad in high-risk countries to visit families in the UK in time for Christmas as well helping those returning from festive visits to get back to work or school.

“It’s a third of the time, so I think the travel industry will benefit massively,” he said. “A lot of people I have spoken to want to travel but can’t afford to selfisolate for two weeks.

“That changes when it is five or six days or even seven days. So I think this will open the door to people looking to travel.

“I also think it is a stepping stone to the next stage which is lateral flow testing so you don’t have to quarantine at all. You just test every day for a week. We know that is coming but we’re not going to get that going until the new year and then finally there will be the vaccine to take us out of this.”

Mr Shapps said that the rapid “lateral flow” tests were “not quite there” to be approved for use by the Government but the technology was “improving” and firms were aiming for to reach the “required standards” by early next year.

Under the Dec 15 scheme, travellers arriving in the UK will be able to book their day five tests in advance from a list of approved companies to be published by the Government.

They are expected to include fast LAMP tests, which cost up to £80 and return results in an hour, and “gold standard” PCR screenings which will cost up to £180. Travellers are expected to be able to post their tests, attend private test sites or have them couriered.

Mr Shapps also announced £100 million in financial aid for airports.