[ 2021-02-09 ]

Covid: Two tests for all UK arrivals during quarantine
All travellers entering the UK will be required to
take two coronavirus tests while quarantining in
an attempt to prevent variants entering the
country.

Arrivals will be required to get a test on days
two and eight of their 10-day quarantine period,
whether they are isolating at home or in a hotel.

The Department of Health said the move would
enable authorities to track new cases more
effectively.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out more
details in the Commons later.

It is in addition to the current rules which
require travellers arriving in the UK - whether by
boat, train or plane - to show proof of a negative
Covid-19 test to be allowed entry.

This test must be taken in the 72 hours before
travelling, and anyone arriving without one faces
a fine of up to £500, with Border Force officials
carrying out spot checks.

Travellers must provide contact details and their
UK address. They can then travel - by public
transport if necessary - to the place where they
plan to self-isolate.

Who has to self-isolate and for how long?
The new test and quarantine rules for
travellers
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breaches

The new testing policy comes amid concern about
new variants entering the country that are more
resistant to existing vaccines.

Early trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
suggest it offers "minimal protection" against
mild disease from the South Africa variant. There
have been 147 cases of the variant have found in
the UK.

Prof Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford
Vaccine Group, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme
the results were "expected" because the virus is
"introducing mutations... to allow it to still
transmit in populations where there's some
immunity."

"As long as we have enough immunity to prevent
severe disease, hospitalisations and death, then
we're going to be fine in the future in the
pandemic," he said.

On Monday, England's deputy chief medical officer,
Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, said the South African
variant did not appear to have a "transmissibility
advantage" over the one first identified in Kent,
which has spread across the UK.

It was therefore unlikely to "overrun" the Kent
variant, he told Monday's coronavirus briefing.

Why we should not rush to judgement on Oxford
jab
How worrying are the new coronavirus
variants?

media captionThe BBC's Laura Foster explains how
to fly safely during a global pandemic

From 15 February, UK residents and Irish nationals
arriving from certain countries will have to
quarantine in hotels.

Passengers will have to stay in their rooms for 10
nights, with security guards accompanying if they
go outside.

The rules will apply to UK nationals and residents
arriving from 33 "red list" Covid-19 hotspots -
mostly in South America and Africa - where it's
feared Covid variants may have already spread.
Passengers will be expected to pay for the cost of
the accommodation.

Non-UK travellers who have been in these countries
in the 10 days before travelling are banned from
entry.

All travellers - including British nationals -
must self-isolate for 10 days when they get to the
UK.

The "test to release scheme" - where travellers
from non-red list countries can leave home
isolation after a negative test on day five - will
remain under the new testing rules.

Passengers will be expected to use the
gold-standard and more expensive PCR tests.

Derek Jones, chief executive of luxury travel
company Kuoni, welcomed the testing plan.

"As we have said all along, a robust testing
regime is the way to open up travel again but it
has to replace or at least shorten quarantine," he
said.
'Guesses about the unknown'

It comes as Prof Van-Tam warned it was too soon to
say to what extent people could begin to start
planning summer holidays.

Speaking at Monday's coronavirus briefing, he
said: "The more elaborate your plans are for
summer holidays, in terms of crossing borders, in
terms of household mixing, given where we are now,
I think we just have to say the more you are
stepping into making guesses about the unknown at
this point," he said.

"I can't give people a proper answer at this point
because we don't yet have the data. It is just too
early to say."

Lockdown rules mean people must only travel abroad
for essential reasons. These are the same as the
"reasonable excuses" for domestic travel,
including:

Work that cannot be done from home
Medical appointments
Educational reasons

People leaving England will soon have to make a
declaration on why they need to travel, which will
be checked by carriers prior to departure.

Source - BBC

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