Quarantine for travellers coming to the UK will be slashed in half by December, handing hopes for holidays over the Christmas break.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told airline bosses that ministers had agreed passengers will only have to self-isolate for seven days under their new “test and release” scheme rather than 14 under the current rules.
Mr Shapps confirmed that the cost would have to be paid by the passenger – and the tests will be have to be provided privately.
He said: “My ministerial colleagues and I have agreed a regime, based on a single test provided by the private sector and at the cost to the passenger, after a period of self-isolation and doing those things could achieve our objectives.
“The next step is to develop how this approach can be implemented.”
He added: “It will mean a single test for international arrivals, a week after arrival.
“I’m hopeful that this will happen very quickly.
“It will now depend on industry’s ability to provide it and I don’t want to over promise for something which isn’t in my hands directly.
“In other words, it’s the sector, the testing sector that will have to develop to deliver the capacity.
“But I’m very hopeful that can happen very quickly.”
Asked if the new system would be in place by December, he replied: “Yes, with the simple proviso, as long as the capacity is there through the private sector.
“They tell us it is, so I’m extremely hopeful.”
Government insiders warned that the final sign off by the ministers and the travel taskforce would see the test take place on either the seventh or eighth day of self-isolation.
But the new boss of British Airways said tests before departure were the only answer to boosting the airline industry and warned the UK risked being “left behind.”
Sean Doyle, who was appointed chief executive last week, told the Airlines 2050 summit of industry leaders that “we do not believe quarantine is the solution”.
He said: “We believe the best way to reassure people is to introduce a reliable and affordable test before flying.
“For the UK, this approach reduces the stress on the NHS testing systems within the UK and on policing the quarantine system.
“If we look abroad to our near neighbours, we see that business travel and indeed tourism is being prioritised by some countries.
“We need to get the economy moving again and this just isn’t possible when you’re asking people to quarantine for 14 days.
“It’s our view that even if that quarantine period is reduced to seven days, people won’t travel here and the UK will get left behind.”
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.hellofaread.com/politics/greater-manchester-mp-yasmin-qureshi-in-hospital-with-coronavirus-as-region-still-holds-out-against-tier-3-lockdown/
