Under new restrictions, all travellers flying to England will be required to prove negative Covid-19 test result before departure.

The British government has announced that all new international arrivals to England will need to be able to prove that they are Covid-19 negative before they are allowed to commence their journey. The new restrictions, which were announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and come into place next week, will help protect against new strains of coronavirus circulating internationally, according to the UK authorities.

Travellers travelling to England by boat, plane or train will be required to undergo a Covid-19 test within 72 hours of their departure. It is thought this pre-departure testing will protect travel and will provide an additional layer of safety from imported cases of coronavirus on top of the mandatory 10-day self-isolation for arrivals, helping identify people who may currently be infectious and preventing them from travelling to England. The government will set out the standards that these tests will need to meet and what proof passengers will need to present.

A negative pre-departure test reduces the risk of someone travelling whilst infectious, acting as another safeguard to prevent imported infections. Passengers arriving from countries not on the government’s travel corridor list must self-isolate for 10 days regardless of their pre-departure test result to provide further robust protection from those travelling from high-risk countries.

Passengers arriving into England who have successfully demonstrated a negative result prior to departure from a country not on the travel corridor list will still have the option to reduce the self-isolation period from 10 to as little as 5 days by paying for a test through the Test to Release scheme. The scheme requires a test to be taken on or after the fifth full day since leaving a country not on the travel corridor list.

All passengers will also need to travel with a passenger locator form and the UK Border Force will conduct spot checks on arrival into England to ensure that passengers are fully compliant. Passengers found not compliant will receive an immediate GBP500 (US$679) fine.

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,” says Secretary Shapps. “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.”

National lockdown restrictions which came into force on January 6, 2021, remain in place meaning everyone must stay at home unless travelling for a very limited set of reasons, including for work.

For more Transport coverage click here. 

STAY IN THE KNOW BY FOLLOWING US ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, & LINKEDIN