It’s three tests (at least) even if you are off to a green country
BRITONS could be jetting off from May 17, with Boris Johnson set to announce tomorrow that the international travel ban will end in six weeks.
As the country stays on course on the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown, he is expected to delight families up and down the country by announcing the move, which will also be welcomed by the stricken tourism industry.
The current ‘stay in the UK’ regime will be replaced by a ‘traffic light’ system, setting out strict testing rules for all travellers, with quarantine restrictions for those going to countries still at risk.
Countries are set to be rated as ‘green, amber or red’ – with green the safest and red considered the riskiest.
The Mail on Sunday understands destinations will be ranked based on the state of the virus there, including variants, as well as their vaccination programmes.
Travellers coming from ‘ green list’ countries will not have to quarantine, although they will have to take at least three Covid tests – either PCR tests or lateral flow tests with high sensitivity. They will have to take one before leaving (no more than 72 hours before takeoff), and two when they return – the first on day two after arriving, the second on day eight. The country they fly to may require even more tests.
People flying in from ‘red list’ nations will need to quarantine in a hotel, as they
Costs for a family may run into hundreds of pounds
do currently. ‘Amber list’ countries will allow people to isolate for ten days at home, while taking tests before and after their travel. Both ‘red’ and ‘amber’ travellers will also need to take three tests.
Officials are said to be looking at finding a cheaper way of testing holidaymakers. Tests can run into hundreds of pounds but a Government source said ‘we want it to be as cheap and as accessible as possible’.
The Government’s global taskforce is also said to be looking at whether people who have had two doses of the vaccine could avoid needing a test before flying, although sources stressed no decision had been made.
Downing Street said last night: ‘We will continue to monitor the risks posed by individual countries and consider a range of factors to inform the restrictions placed on them.’
Mr Johnson will not give any examples of green-list countries tomorrow. Sources stressed it was still ‘too early’ to know which countries will be where in the traffic light system in six weeks, adding: ‘We continue to advise people not to book summer holidays abroad.’
Europe is in the grip of a third wave and most of the continent will not meet the required criteria to be put on the ‘green list’. Holidays more likely to be first in line for British tourists include those with more advanced vaccine rollouts, such as the Caribbean islands, Israel, Singapore and Malta – although the Covid situation could change in six weeks.
Countries i ncluding Greece, Cyprus and Croatia have already offered vaccinated Britons quarantine-free and test-free entry to their countries, which rely heavily on the tourist dollar.
The Foreign Office is believed to be in talks with other governments about securing bilateral agreements for vaccinated travellers and testing regimes for other holidaymakers.
Last night, a Government source said it was pursuing a ‘softly-softly catchy-monkey approach’ on travel to avoid opening it up too fast and having to re-introduce restrictions. They added: ‘The Government understands it is frustrating for the public not to have more detail but we don’t want to run before we can walk.’
However, it is understood Minist ers are warning Mr Johnson against deviating from the roadmap. One Minister told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We need to focus on hospitalisations and deaths instead of the obsession on transmission and infection rates. Because we have got to start moving towards the kind of attitude we have of flu.
‘ We do expect there to be an increase of infection rates as we start opening up, but the key thing, in terms of what is a proportional response, has got to be on deaths, hospitalisations and serious illness.’
They added that while variants remain a concern, ‘we can’t lock down the whole economy just because of rates infection rates’.
Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, Gatwick MP Henry Smith said: ‘For some the situation in some European nations leads to the conclusion that the safest and best course of action is to keep our borders closed and remain in splendid isolation.
‘ This is a dangerous approach that dismisses the progress from our vaccination programme but also fundamentally fails to understand the economic importance and value of aviation to the UK.’