The UK Government has announced that from next week international travellers arriving into England will need to provide a negative test for COVID-19 taken 72 hours prior to arrival before being allowed entry into the country.
The new rule will apply to any traveller arriving into the UK by Air, sea or by train from a country outside of the UK and also applies to British nationals.
At the moment the rule only applies to England but the UK Department of Transport (DoT) is working with devolved nations Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, to make the rule UK wide.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We already have significant measures in place to prevent imported cases of COVID-19, but with new strains of the virus developing internationally we must take further precautions.
“Taken together with the existing mandatory self-isolation period for passengers returning from high-risk countries, pre-departure tests will provide a further line of defence – helping us control the virus as we roll out the vaccine at pace over the coming weeks.”
Even with a negative test, arriving visitors will still need to self-isolate for 10 days which can be reduced to 5 days if they take another test from an official provider after arrival.
