From Friday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that the UK government will abolish all remaining Covid restrictions on overseas travel for all passengers.
All Covid-19 travel restrictions, including the passenger locator form for arrivals into the UK and all tests for passengers who do not qualify as vaccinated, will be lifted at 4 a.m. on Friday, according to the Xinhua news agency.
As a result, for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020, tourists will be able to enter the UK without restriction.
Only persons who have been fully vaccinated are currently allowed to enter the nation without having to undergo any testing.
They must, however, complete a passenger locator form within 72 hours of their departure.
The statement was greeted positively by Karen Dee, CEO of the Airport Operators Association, who stated that “a return to restriction-free travel is fantastic news for passengers and should allow aviation to take major steps toward recovery.”
According to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics, coronavirus infections are rising in all four UK regions for the first time since the end of January, with Scotland already reporting record-high infection data.
“It’s unfortunate that Grant Shapps is suggesting it’s safe when we hit record levels of Covid,” Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at Kings College London, told Sky News.
Over the last seven days, the UK added 444,201 Covid-19 cases and 726 deaths, according to official figures.
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