U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced at a press conference Monday that most lockdown restrictions will end on 19 July, despite the recent rise in daily infection rates of the Delta variant of Covid-19.
However, for the time being, border controls are being maintained, as is the U.K. 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 U.K.’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 U.S. 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”.
Johnson announced a new plan for living with Covid-19 which would apply from 19 July, namely:
- the government will change the tools it uses to control human behaviour. It will move away from legal restrictions and let people make their own decisions.
- it will remove legal limits on the amounts of people who can congregate, as well as removing the 1 metre social distancing rule.
- it will remove the legal obligation to wear face masks but still give advice on when people should do so.
- it will allow businesses to reopen and the government will no longer instruct people to work from home.
Prime Minister Johnson said it would be better for the country to open now, when summer would give it an advantage against the virus, rather than in winter, when things might again get worse. Johnson told the press that if the U.K. didn’t reopen society in the next few weeks then "we must ask ourselves - when will we be able to return to normal?".
The leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, called the decision “reckless”.
A final decision to go ahead with these plans will take place on Monday 12 July before so-called ‘Freedom Day’ on 19 July, after reviewing the data from this week.
It is understood that Transport Minister Grant Shapps will make a statement on travel restrictions later this week.
U.K. To Lift Covid Restrictions But Travel Bans To Stay In Place, For Now - Forbes
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