Authorities in the United Kingdom have abolished the mandatory quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated UK residents wishing to enter England after visiting countries included in the UK’s amber travel list.
In addition, from July 19, the UK’s authorities will no longer advise its citizens against travel to countries that are included on the amber list, VisaGuide.World reports.
However, Britons living in other countries will not be able to prove their vaccine status if they have been vaccinated abroad.
The recent decision would allow Britons to spend their holidays in European countries, such as Spain, France, Portugal and Greece, despite the fact that these countries apply their entry requirements for travellers from abroad, such as the quarantine obligation.
The UK’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, while confirming the recent changes, emphasized that the government would not accept proof of vaccination apart from the NHS app or certificate.
The recent decision means that younger travellers may be exempted from many overseas summer breaks.
“I don’t underestimate for a second just how difficult the last 16 months have been for those who have not been able to travel to see their families, and the tourism and for the aviation sector itself, of course, and no minister, let alone transport secretary, would want to ever curtail freedom and ask people not to travel,” Shapps pointed out.
The Transport Secretary stressed that its country’s authorities main interest is to protect public health, adding that this was the reason why the UK imposed some of the strictest border measures worldwide.
At present, the United Kingdom has a limited number of countries included in its green list, in which are placed territories considered safe based on their epidemiological situation.
More than 50 countries belong to the UK’s red list, which consists of countries highly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, whose arrivals must follow quarantine rules when planning to enter Britain.
The majority of other countries worldwide remain on the amber list, including holiday hotspots such as Greece, Spain, and the US.
The United Kingdom is the seventh most affected country by the Coronavirus in the world, especially by the Delta variant, what has led many governments worldwide to tighten their preventive measures for arrivals from the UK.
Up to this point, over 5,022,800 people in the United Kingdom have tested positive for the Coronavirus pandemic in Britain.
Due to the virus, more than 128,33o people have died. Such figures lead the country’s authorities to keep in place their travel bans and other restrictions in order to curb the spread of the disease.
However, the recent changes introduced by the UK’s government have also been welcomed by the Chief Executive of Heathrow airport, John Holland-Kaye.
“The UK should open up travel to fully vaccinated people from more countries – particularly our key partners in the US – by the end of July,” he pointed out.
The Coronavirus pandemic situation caused a devastating crisis for many industries in the UK as well. A total of 307,000 people engaged in the travel and tourism sector lost their jobs in 2020 due to restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the virus.
In addition, the UK suffered a £148 billion financial loss last year due to the deadly virus.
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