UK to lift Covid restrictions on July 19 but travel bans to stay in place, Boris Johnson announces

However, for the time being, border controls are being maintained, as is the UK red list. Johnson stated that he will work with the travel industry to remove the need for fully vaccinated travelers to quarantine upon arrival from amber list countries. This is the second formal announcement from Johnson on the suggestion to change travel requirements for the double-dose vaccinated. However, no dates have been given–which will be disappointing news for the travel industry.

Currently, only a handful of countries are on the UK’s green travel list, between which people can travel freely for tourist purposes without the need to quarantine.

Most countries are on an amber list, which involves a ten-day quarantine upon arrival in the U.K. with a test before arrival and two tests on day two and eight after arrival. People can ‘test out’ after day five with a negative test. The US is currently on the amber list, as are most EU countries.

Arrivals from red-list countries must quarantine in government-mandated hotels.

Whilst Johnson told the press that rising infection rates are leading to an increase in hospital admissions and the country must “prepare for more deaths”, the U.K. would still come out of lockdown. This was due to “the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine rollout” where 45 million adults have received a first dose and 30 million a second, the highest in Europe (with the exception of Malta) and the fact that the U.K. showed they have broken “the link between disease and death”.

SOURCE: FORBES