The UK Government has announced that passengers (including UK Nationals) arriving in England and Scotland will be required to present a negative test for Covid-19 from Wednesday 13 January. Travellers not adhering to this rule face a fine of £500.
Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to follow suit.
Travellers not
adhering to this rule face a fine of £500.
International arrivals into the UK will need to show a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of travel to enter the UK. Travellers will not be able to board the plane without one.
Lateral flow tests and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (Lamp) tests will be allowed, as will the NHS-standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. However, arrivals from countries not on the travel corridor list will still have to self-isolate for 14 days even if they have a negative test.
The measure will apply to those arriving by plane, train or boat, including UK nationals, who will have to take a test up to 72 hours before leaving the country they are in.
The UK government has resisted this measure for some time buy the new variant from South Africa has prompted the rethink.
Mr Shapps said the government was “very keen” to set up compulsory testing now because of the new variant of the virus circulating in South Africa, which he said was:
We already have significant measures in place to prevent imported cases of Covid-19, but with new strains of the virus developing internationally we must take further precautions.
“Taken together with the existing mandatory self-isolation period for passengers returning from high-risk countries, pre-departure tests will provide a further line of defence – helping us control the virus as we roll out the vaccine at pace over the coming weeks.
Responding angrily Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said Ryanair flights will be axed as he “can’t see how they will be able to fill more than 10 per cent of their seats”. He said it is better “not to fly the planes at all”.
The procedure will be at the passenger’s expense.
Is anyone exempt?
Yes. It will not apply to arrivals from the republic of Ireland, children under 11, lorry drivers and flight, sea and rail crew will be exempt.
Passengers travelling from countries deemed to lack “the infrastructure available to deliver the tests” will also avoid the requirement. Exactly which countries are still unknown.
About the new variant from South Africa
The new variant prevalent in South Africa is an unknown and though it is considered unlikely that the mutation would be resistant to the vaccines, scientists are diligently doing tests to ensure that immunisation is effective. If in the worst-case scenario the vaccine needs to be redesigned this could take several weeks.
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