All the Covid travel rules set to end on Friday

15 March 2022, 06:34 | Updated: 15 March 2022, 06:49

All the Covid travel rules have been scrapped
All the Covid travel rules have been scrapped. Picture: Alamy/Getty Images
Naomi Bartram

By Naomi Bartram

The final Covid travel rules will be scrapped this week in a huge boost to holidays.

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All the remaining Covid rules in the UK will end this week, the transport secretary has confirmed.

Currently, everyone travelling to the UK has to complete a passenger locator form before they arrive.

Those who are not fully vaccinated also have to take a Covid test before departure, fill in the form, and take a PCR test after arriving.

Grant Shapps confirmed that these rules will end at 04:00 on Friday, as he Tweeted: "These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout and mean greater freedom in time for Easter."

Airports in the UK are losing their travel rules
Airports in the UK are losing their travel rules. Picture: Alamy

He has since added: "Finally we can get rid of all the travel restrictions, so there is no more testing, there's no more quarantine, there's no more paperwork."

Scotland and Wales will also scrap the remaining border measures, but Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan said she is ‘extremely disappointed’ that the rules have been dropped.

While passengers will no longer have to take tests to get back into the UK, those planning a trip overseas will still need to follow other countries' entry rules.

This comes after Covid tests were removed for all holidaymakers who have been fully vaccinated earlier this month.

Passenger locator forms are being scrapped
Passenger locator forms are being scrapped. Picture: Alamy

Under the UK’s ‘Living with Covid’ plan, the need for coronavirus quarantining has also been scrapped.

For anyone who now tests positive for Covid in England, they no longer have to stay at home, but are still advised by the Government to self-isolate for at least five days.

The guidance is set to be updated again on April 1, with a spokesman announcing: "From April, the government will update guidance setting out the ongoing steps that people with Covid-19 should take to be careful and considerate of others, similar to advice on other infectious diseases.

"This will align with testing changes. Until 1 April, we still advise people who test positive to stay at home.

"Adults and children who test positive are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five full days and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received two negative test results on consecutive days."