If you are waiting to plan your summer holiday this year, then you are probably a little frustrated at the moment, as there is still no clear indication from the UK Government as to when we will be able to travel abroad again. Foreign holidays are still “banned” until May 17th at the earliest, and Boris Johnson has gone so far as to say we shouldn’t be booking our summer holidays “until the picture is clearer.”
This has left many people unsure as to whether holidays will be allowed shortly, with the Prime Minister also not being able to give any indication as to when international travel may return, although he did indicate that the Global Travel Taskforce would be reporting back sooner than expected, which may give us more to go on.
What we do know, so far, is that a ‘Green’ category is to be added to the existing ‘Amber’ and ‘Red’ categories that relate to the rules of testing and quarantine for travellers returning to the UK from abroad. The so-called Traffic Light System aims to make it clear to people whether self-isolation is required or not, and what pre-departure and post-arrival tests are needed, depending on where they are travelling from and to.
If countries visited are on the red list, then direct flights from these countries are banned and any Britons wanting to return to the UK from these countries must fly home via a third nation. They will also need to hotel quarantine for 11 days when they return, and take a COVID-19 test on days two and eight.
If a country is on the green list, then one COVID-19 test needs to be taken within 72 hours of departure (to England) and at least one other COVID-19 test to be completed on arrival back in England.
The only thing we don’t know, as of yet, is which countries are likely to be rated as amber or green. So, we still don’t know the likely status of some of the most popular summer holiday destinations. We also don’t have any more specific information on the proposed vaccine passports either, although the Prime Minister has indicated that testing is going to be a very important part of re-opening the doors to foreign travel.
So, if you are hoping to get away this summer, you may still have a few more days of uncertainty yet. However, Fit2FlyTest are here to help ease the flow back to safe international travel again with our gold standard Fit to Fly COVID-19 PCR Test (Fit to Fly Certificate included) and Test to Release COVID-19 PCR Test.
