United Kingdom makes COVID negative result mandatory for all arrivals, stricter rules
- par Thibaud Popelin
- dans Monde
- — Jan 12, 2021
Global travellers arriving into England, from Friday, will require a negative Covid test before being granted entry. Full details of requirements can be found at www.gov.uk.
The UK explained that passengers would still be required to fill in a passenger locator form and subject to national lockdown restrictions.
The British High Commission in Nigeria, which disclosed this in a statement on Monday, said global arrivals were now required to provide negative COVID-19 test results before departure for England.
Mr Shapps further added the step is in line with the existing mandatory self-isolation period for passengers returning from high-risk countries, and pre-departure test, which will help provide a further line of defence, and help them control the virus, as they start rolling out the vaccine over the coming weeks.
British nationals attempting to return home who test positive must not travel and must follow the local guidance in their host country, and contact the nearest consulate if they need support.
A negative pre-departure test reduces the risk of someone travelling whilst infectious, acting as another safeguard to prevent imported infections.
For people arriving from countries not on the Travel Corridor list, they will still be required to complete a mandatory self-isolation period, and the Travel Corridors list is regularly reviewed to manage the risk of imported cases of COVID-19 from high-risk countries. Carriers may deny boarding to those who do not have a negative test result.
The move further bolsters existing protective measures which helped to safely enable global travel past year, with self-isolation for new arrivals and travel corridors remaining critical in reducing the risk of imported cases from high-risk countries.
"Both globally and domestically we are seeing significant increases in levels of coronavirus, including the emergence of worrying new strains", he said.
The new rules apply to nearly every country in the world, including those on England's travel corridor list, and further compliance checks are due to be conducted by Border Force staff.
In preparation for travel, passengers will need to find a testing provider which meets the standards set out on by the UK Government, the majority of which will be Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests.
