Millions of fully vaccinated travellers from Europe and the US will be allowed to enter England without quarantining from next week as part of a significant reopening of the border, it was confirmed today.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said that people inoculated outside the UK would be able to enter from amber destinations from 4am on Monday, August 2.
Travellers will be required to submit a negative coronavirus test before boarding England-bound flights as well as taking a lab-based PCR test within two days of arriving.
It represents an important step towards demolishing travel barriers that have been imposed since the start of this year to prevent coronavirus variants being imported to the UK.
It came as Britain’s week-long fall in cases came to an end today with an 18 per cent rise on yesterday as the health secretary warned people not to “get too optimistic” about the pandemic.
Advertisement
Sajid Javid admitted that “no one really knows” whether infections will rise or fall over the rest of the summer, as scientists wait to see the impact of the end of all restrictions last week.
Today 27,743 positive cases were reported, ending a steadily fall from 46,558 on Tuesday last week. The increase could signal the first signs of a rise in infections driven by the end of limits on social contact on July 19, although scientists will want several more days of data to be sure. The seven-day rolling average is still falling, to 30,494.
In further measures, it was announced that international cruises have also been given the go-ahead for the first time in more than a year.
Cruises will be able to start and finish in English ports – calling at foreign destinations in between – without requiring vaccinated passengers to quarantine on their return. It will provide a big boost to the cruise industry, which was effectively closed down at the start of the pandemic.
Since July 19 fully vaccinated UK residents have been allowed travel to and from countries on the government’s amber list – the vast majority of those in the world including most of Europe and North America – without isolating on their return. The right was previously denied to those who were inoculated outside the UK.
Advertisement
Research from the World Travel and Tourism Council suggests that the economy is losing £639 million a day because of the squeeze on inbound tourism.
Under today’s plan, the government will recognise vaccine credentials issued specifically in the EU and US. This includes the EU’s digital Covid-19 certificate and the paper-based CDC card issued to people in the US when they are vaccinated.
Airlines will be expected to verify vaccine status at check-in before passengers board UK-bound flights to prevent a bottleneck at passport control. Ministers believe it will help Britain to strike more deals with foreign countries to enable quarantine-free travel.
It will initially apply only on entry to England but the devolved administrations are likely to follow elsewhere in the UK.
It is hoped that the move will convince the US to lift its existing ban on all British citizens entering the country, which has been in place since March last year. The White House had confirmed this week that it had no immediate plans to lift the restrictions.
Advertisement
Shapps said: “We’re saying, ‘You can come here, you can come visit, you can come see friends, you can come as a tourist if you’ve been double vaccinated and follow the rules without quarantine.’
“We can’t change that on the other side [in the US] but we do expect that in time they will release that executive order, which was actually signed by the previous president, and bans inward travel.”
Today’s changes will cover people who have been fully vaccinated in the US, EU and other European Free Trade Association countries – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. It is likely that the measures will be extended to other countries in the coming months.
Shapps said: “We’re helping reunite people living in the US and European countries with their family and friends in the UK.”
The government told people to avoid all cruises on July 9 last year owing to the threat of contracting the virus. Concerns were prompted by a series of incidents in which the virus spread rapidly through ships while at sea, forcing passengers to be quarantined at ports around the world.
Advertisement
About a fifth of passengers on board the British-registered Diamond Princess caught Covid-19 during a cruise in East Asia, with the ship being quarantined by the Japanese government. Fourteen people died.
Domestic cruises have been permitted since May 17 this year.
However, Shapps said that the government had given the go-ahead to cruises that include stops in foreign countries from Monday. International cruise travel advice will be amended to encourage travellers to “understand the risks associated with cruise travel and take personal responsibility for their own safety abroad”, the Department for Transport said.
Simon Palethorpe, Carnival UK president, which includes the Cunard and P&O lines, said: “We are delighted that the work done by the cruise industry over the past 18 months has been recognised and we are now able to resume international cruising.
“It has been an exceptionally difficult and challenging time for the global cruise industry but this news marks the beginning of a new start and one which will be welcomed by our crew, our guests and the UK economy.”
Advertisement
P&O’s international cruise holidays are set to restart from September 25, with Cunard’s international sailings from October.
Andy Harmer, the managing director of CLIA, the cruise trade body, told The Times: “The decision to allow the restart of international cruise is very good news for the industry. The success of this summer’s round Britain cruises has led the way.
“The cruise industry has worked intensively during the last 18 months with the government, health authorities, ports, and other industry bodies to develop protocols that protect guests, crew and the destinations we visit.”
Mike Tildesley, professor of infectious disease modelling at the University of Warwick, told Times Radio there was a “risk attached” to easing self-isolation requirements in England.
However, he added: “If people are double vaccinated, if people are coming from countries that have similar levels of infection to ours, and no real risk of variants of concern that might be introduced into the country, then it’s probably a practical decision that has to be made to try to support the tourist industry.”
