All the new Covid travel rules starting tomorrow in England

6 January 2022, 08:41

Boris Johnson confirms no new restrictions before Christmas

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

What are the new Covid travel rules in England? Here's everything you need to know about Boris Johnson's announcement...

In December last year, Coronavirus restrictions were changed in England again amid a new wave of the Omicron variant.

However, now Boris Johnson has loosened the rules once more by scrapping the need for PCR tests for vaccinated travellers.

But what are the new travel rules and how will they affect your holiday? Here’s what we know…

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What are the new travel rules in England?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday evening that pre-departure testing will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travellers returning to England.

From 4am on Friday, people returning to the country will also no longer have to isolate until they get a negative PCR test.

Instead, they will have to take a lateral flow test at the end of day two after arriving.

If that is positive they will then should take a confirmatory PCR test to help identify any new variants.

The stricter pre-departure measures were introduced a month ago, but will now be removed as the Omicron variant is now so prevalent it is "having limited impact".

From 4am on Friday, people returning to England will not have to take pre-departure tests.

Currently, fully vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK must take a pre-departure test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a post-arrival test.

Those who are not fully vaccinated must self-isolate for 10 days after they arrive.

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This comes after the government removed all 11 countries on its travel ‘red list’.

While some countries - such as France - have recently banned all non-essential travel from UK tourists, there are still plenty of countries open to holidaymakers.

Many Brits have been jetting off on holiday to countries such as Spain, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Iceland and the USA.