Pre-departure Covid tests for travel to the UK have been dropped for double jabbed travellers in the latest government review of restrictions.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, Boris Johnson confirmed that pre-departure tests would be scrapped for vaccinated travellers from Friday, with fully vaccinated arrivals and those under 18 arriving to the UK from 4am on 7 January no longer required to present a test result.
From the same date and time, these groups will also no longer have to self-isolate while waiting for results of their “day two” test.
Furthermore, from 4am on Sunday 9 January, the fully vaccinated and under 18s will be able to take a lateral flow (antigen) rather than a more expensive PCR test for their post-arrival test.
However, the rules remain the same for unvaccinated or partly vaccinated arrivals 18 and over - who must present a negative pre-departure test, quarantine for 10 days upon arrival, and take a PCR test on days two and eight of self-isolation.
Although the current easing of restrictions currently only applies to England and Wales, it is likely that the governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland will follow suit.
The transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the move on Twitter, saying: “We’re removing the temporary extra testing measures we introduced last year at the border to slow cases of Omicron coming to the UK.”
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