A woman sits under a beach umbrella at Oura beach, Albufeira, in Algarve, south of Portugal
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Desperate holidaymakers face missing their booked vacations as private laboratories struggle to return their Covid-19 test results on time, Which? has warned.
With testing systems struggling to cope consumer magazine Which? said it would be “carnage” when even more countries are added to a slim green list, as is expected at some point this month.
Tests are required to travel abroad under the traffic light system which sees countries categorised into red, amber and green based on the risk of importing cases.
Rory Boland, travel editor of Which? told The Times: “The best-case scenario is that you’ve booked a package holiday and the test is booked with the tour operator. That way if you don’t get the result back they will allow you to move the departure. But that’s not a given and will be no consolation.
“The private testing system is already struggling, it will be carnage when people start travelling again.”
It comes as Heathrow has begun processing arrivals from red list countries in a dedicated terminal following concerns about mixing with other passengers.
Travellers arriving from red list nations on direct flights are being taken to Terminal 3.
The red list currently consists of 43 nations from which arrivals are deemed to present a high risk of importing coronavirus.
Passengers arriving in the UK after being in one of those destinations during the previous 10 days must spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel, costing £1,750 for solo travellers.
