Fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to isolate on their arrival back in England later this month - and Nicola Sturgeon has suggested Scotland could follow suit.
Holidaymakers who have been given their two vaccinations on the NHS will no longer need to self-isolate for 10 days on their return to England from destinations on the amber list.
They will be following a similar system to that currently in place for returning travellers to both England and Scotland from green list countries.
The difference with the new amber plan is that it will only be open to those who are fully vaccinated.
Nicola Sturgeon said that the Scottish Government will consider the policy “carefully” and added that the country is at a “fragile” point in it’s fight against Covid.
She said: “We are considering that carefully. We will look carefully at the statement that’s been made in the UK, and we’ll come to a decision on that fairly soon in terms whether or not that will apply to people returning to Scotland.”
How to get a Covid test for travel
Scots cannot use NHS tests for the purpose of testing before travel back to the UK as they cannot be taken abroad.
The Scottish Government has listed the requirements for the pre-departure tests on its website.
Pre-departure tests must be taken three days before travel back into Scotland.
For travellers flying into England, the UK Government has noted the Covid test providers for travel on its site. You can find it here: www.gov.uk/find-travel-test-provider.
Scots must also take their test within two days of their return to Scotland under the current green list rules.
Future changes to the testing rules on arriving back in Scotland from amber list countries is yet to be announced.
How much are the Covid tests for travel
The prices on pre-departure tests for travel to England and Scotland can range from around £4.95 to £575.
Mr Shapps said he looked at the gov.uk website this morning to take a look at PCR test pricing.
He said: “There are some very inexpensive tests, I think the cheapest I saw was £4.95 – now that’s actually quite specific because it referred to somebody turning up at an individual test centre, they may not live anywhere near to it.
“So let’s assume though that the cost of the test is higher than that, but also recognise that they’re no longer at the hundreds of pounds that was being quoted in the spring.
“We won’t be testing people for a moment longer than is required, but our primary responsibility, of course, of course, is to protect people in the UK – we do not want to have a variant come in that we simply fail to pick up.”
Testing when passengers arrive back in Scotland is priced at £88 and can be purchased here: https://quarantinehotel.ctmportal.co.uk/Quarantine/Home.aspx?country=Scotland.
