LONDON, Jan 8, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – England is to introduce mandatory
coronavirus testing for all international arrivals in a bid to curb the
spread of new virus variants, the department of transport said on Friday.
Beginning early next week, all international travellers to England will be
required to present a negative Covid-19 test taken up to 72 hours prior to
their departure, the ministry said.
Those passengers who do not comply with the regulations, which also apply
to British nationals, face a o500 ($678, EUR552) fine.
“With new strains of the virus developing internationally we must take
further precautions,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.
“Taken together with the existing mandatory self-isolation period for
passengers returning from high-risk countries, pre-departure tests will
provide a further line of defence,” he added.
The announcement follows the recent decision to temporarily suspend direct
travel from South Africa to England.
Britain has been contending with a new coronavirus variant first
identified in the country in December, which authorities have said is 50 to
70 percent more transmissible.
Dozens of nations around the world stopped air travel from the UK in a bid
to contain the virus strain.
Faced by a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, driven by the new strain,
England entered a strict lockdown on Tuesday with schools and non-essential
shops closed for at least six weeks after previous measures failed to halt
the steep rise in cases.
The UK on Thursday recorded another 1,162 deaths within 28 days of a
positive test — the second highest toll since the peak of the first wave in
April last year.
Under the new travel rules for inbound arrivals to England, all passengers
arriving from countries not on the government’s travel corridor list will
still be required to self-isolate for ten days, regardless of their Covid
test result.
Scotland, which has devolved powers over transport policy, announced on
Thursday that travellers from Israel and Jerusalem, Botswana, Mauritius and
the Seychelles were being removed from its travel corridor list and
passengers arriving from those countries would still be required to self-
isolate for 10 days.