What are the latest travel rules and are schools Covid hotspots?

Q I’m confused about the new travel rules. What’s allowed?

A From October 4, the Covid travel rules will be simplified. The three-tier traffic-light system will be scrapped. In its place there will be just two categories: the

Red List and the Rest of the

World. Those countries classed as ‘Rest of the World’ will be a combination of the formerly green and amber list nations and will have minimal travel restrictions.

This includes popular holiday destinations such as France, Greece and Spain as well as several previously red listed countries such as Turkey and the Maldives. Fully vaccinated travellers who head to these destinations will no longer have to take a pre-departure Covid test before returning to England.

They will still need to take a gold-standard PCR test within two days of arrival, but from later in October this rule will change again and they will be able to use a cheaper and quicker lateral flow test instead.

People who are not fully vaccinated will still need a predeparture test and a PCR test on days two and eight after they return from any country on the Rest of the World list. They will also have to self-isolate for ten days. All passengers returning from a Red List country will still have pay to quarantine in a hotel for ten days.

From November – no date has been set but it’s expected to be ‘early’ in the month – fully vaccinated Britons can travel to the US, after Washington relaxed its border restrictions.

Q Lots of kids seem to be catching Covid. Has the return to school been a disaster?

A Last week there were more than 100,000 children absent from school with confirmed or suspected Covid infections – the highest number for England so far.

Dr Shamez Ladhani, a consultant paediatrician in infectious diseases at St George’s Hospital, London, said: ‘The data would suggest that a significant proportion of the confirmed cases are the effect of extra testing, which is picking up a lot of infections that we otherwise wouldn’t have. A lot of these infections are likely to be asymptomatic or very mild.’

Former Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi hopes vaccinations for

12 to 15-year-olds will help to cut infection rates in schools.