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Travelers arriving in England from countries with high infection rates will be able to shorten their quarantine from 14 days to five if they test negative for coronavirus on the fifth day, the Department of Transport said.
Passengers will have to pay for the tests themselves and must book with one of the private providers on the government list.
Authorities said they want the plan, which will take effect on December 15, to boost travel without putting additional pressure on the NHS.
Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We have a plan to ensure that our route out of this pandemic is careful and balanced, allowing us to focus on what we can do now to boost international travel and stay safe. of the public “.
“Our new testing strategy will allow us to travel more freely, see our loved ones, and boost international business. By giving people the option to test on the fifth day, we are also supporting the travel industry as it continues to rebuild. out of the pandemic. “
Critics have said the measure should have been put in place earlier to make travel easier during the summer holidays. But those who make a living during the winter season, like Tom Staines, who owns a ski chalet in France, are breathing a sigh of relief.
“This is great news for us,” he said.
“Shortening the quarantine from 14 days to five will mean that our guests will be able to travel. Many have indicated that they will be able to cope with a short quarantine, while at 14 days they will not.
“We expect the lack of reservations that we have had since the summer to change in the coming days, with a certain level of certainty about the ability to travel.”
But some figures from the travel industry indicate that even a shorter quarantine remains a major barrier to travel.
Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “This measure is not going to be for everyone.
“There are some people who will find it easy to self-quarantine upon return, but many people cannot and may not be able to afford it either, especially if they are a family of four it could cost hundreds of pounds to get a private test afterwards. five days.
“But we have to see a gradual return to what life was like before COVID, and this is the beginning of that path to normalcy.”
The government said the five-day self-isolation tests will ensure that no cases of COVID-19 are lost because they will allow the virus’s incubation time.
Airlines like BA and Virgin Atlantic want the government to implement pre- and post-flight tests, which they said could completely eliminate the need for quarantine.
Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, said: “The only way to fully reopen vital business and travel links, support the UK’s economic recovery and protect over 500,000 aviation-supported jobs is to move to a robust pre-departure testing regime to replace de safely quarantine as soon as possible. “
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has gone further and said that travelers will need to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to board the airline’s flights.
Joyce said the move would be a “necessity” when vaccines become available and that he thought it would be “commonplace” among airlines in the future.
But for now, in an industry where hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk, there is hope that testing five days after arrival in the UK could be the first step towards recovery.
