All international passengers seeking entry into the United Kingdom will soon need to show a negative test result for Covid-19 before travelling to the UK.
People arriving by plane, train or boat, including British nationals, will have to take a test up to 72 hours before leaving the country they are in.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said travellers “can’t board… without having that negative test”.
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 “causing great concern with the scientists”.
“They’re not sure whether for example the vaccine will be able to deal with it in the first place, and we’re very, very keen to keep it out,” he said.
The changed are expected to come in from next week, anyone who arrives in the UK and has not got proof of a negative test could face an immediate £500 fine.
But there will be exemptions made for children under 11, hauliers, those travelling from countries without the infrastructure to deliver tests – although details of those have not been released yet and arrivals from the Common Travel Area with Ireland.
All passengers arriving from countries not on the government’s travel corridor list must still self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of their test result.
Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of the industry body Airlines UK, said the move should be “a short-term, emergency measure only”.
He said: “Once the rollout of the vaccine accelerates, the focus must be on returning travel to normal as quickly as possible, removing the need to quarantine or test”.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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