Covid: Pre-departure travel tests have outlived their usefulness - Shapps

By Dulcie Lee.
The news is from the BBC.

The caption is media.

The transport secretary says the second day will be replaced by tests.

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, says that the current Covid testing system has outlived its usefulness.

He said the system had done its part and would be changed later this week.

Pre-departure tests will end for fully vaccine-vaccinated travellers, and day two will be replaced by lateral flow tests.

The stable system will be in place for 2022, according to Mr Shapps.

Travel firms said the measures were not effective now that Omicron was spreading.

All travellers over the age of 12 must show proof of a negative lateral flow or PCR test before they can travel to the UK. People who are fully vaccine free must pay for a test within two days of arrival and self-isolate while waiting for the result.

People who aren't fully vaccine-free must take a test on day two and day eight after arriving, and self-isolated for 10 days.

The test for travelling to England from countries outside the UK and the Common Travel Area will no longer be needed for people who are fully vaccine-free. They will have to take a test on arrival, but they won't have to worry about it.
They will only have to take a lateral flow test on the second day. The test must be bought from a private provider.
Passengers who are unvaccinated will need to take a pre-departure test, take a PCR test on day two, and self-isolate for 10 days.

Travelers should check the travel rules for their destination country.

The changes were only announced for England, despite UK-wide talks on what the rules should be, according to Scotland's health minister. He said he would give an update on Thursday afternoon, while Eluned Morgan said Wales would align with England.

Dr Sarah Pitt said it was "sensible" to test people before they boarded a plane, as Covid can be infectious to others.

She said that people should be testing themselves regularly even if they haven't been travelling.

If someone has the Omicron variant, they can be tested for it with the help of the PCR tests.

He said that anyone who had a positive lateral flow test must get a test from the National Health Service so that they can check for new variant using sequencing techniques.

The UK has a higher level of sequencing than any other country in the world, so it is very careful in tracking new variations regardless of where they start.

If another variant of concern emerged, he warned that the rules would be reviewed by the end of the month.

The travel industry was happy with the relaxation of the rules.

The changes would make travel simpler and easier, as customers could now book and travel with confidence, said EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren.

Abta's chief executive, Mark Tanzer, said it was "potentially very positive", but that it had already been done.

"We hope to see confidence return as we enter what is usually the peak booking season for summer holidays," he said.

The timing of the announcement would make a huge difference, said Steve Heapy, boss of the airline Jet2.

Testing for coronaviruses
Grant Shapps is a writer.
A coronaviruses epidemic.