Starting Friday, January 7, fully vaccinated travelers to England will no longer need to provide proof of a negative PCR test upon arrival. According to BBC, starting at 4 a.m. local time on Friday, fully vaccinated travelers (as well as those who are 18 and under) will only have to take a test on arrival and won’t need to self-isolate while awaiting the result. From Sunday, January 9, fully vaccinated travelers will only have to take a rapid antigen lateral flow test instead of a PCR test on Day 2 (purchased from a private provider).
Unvaccinated travelers will continue to take a pre-departure test, a PCR test on Day 2 and 8, and self-isolate for 10 days.
The BBC report noted that Scotland's health minister Humza Yousaf was frustrated that the changes were announced for England only, despite U.K.-wide talks on what the rules should be, while Wales and Northern Ireland said they would align with England on the regulations.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and UKinbound in a statement welcomed the government's decision to remove pre-departure tests for travelers and replace “damaging” Day 2 PCR testing with antigen tests. Julia Simpson, WTTC president and CEO, said: “The removal of pre-departure tests and replacing Day 2 PCRs with more affordable antigen testing will significantly boost the U.K. travel and tourism sector and help both it and the whole UK economy recover much faster than expected.
“The testing measures being removed never actually stopped infections coming in and were a blunt policy, which only damaged the travel and tourism sector.”
Joss Croft, CEO of UKinbound, added, “The industry will be very pleased to see the removal of onerous pre-departure testing, and the replacement of the day 2 PCR test with a lateral flow test.
“However, this is not job done. January to March is a key booking period for inbound travel and if we are to ensure the successful revival of the U.K.’s valuable inbound tourism industry, our fifth largest export sector, worth £28 billion to the U.K. economy in 2019, then the government needs to provide a clear roadmap for the removal of all travel restrictions and to signal that the U.K. will be fully open for business.”
The measures being dialed back were put in place last month in an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant; however, given that it is now the dominant strain in the U.K., British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to CNN, said the regulations were “having limited impact.” He additionally said that another strict lockdown is unlikely at the time.
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