TRAVELLERS entering the UK from Spain will no longer need to quarantine as long as they are fully vaccinated and will not have to pay for PCR tests, the British Department for Transport (DfT) has announced – a change which airlines and tour operators have welcomed with open arms.
The UK's 'traffic light' system for countries, denoting the government's perception of Covid contagion risk, will be abolished from October 4 and only the 'red list' will remain, with eight nations currently on it soon to be removed – Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and The Maldives.
Spain, like most of the European Union, has been on 'amber', meaning anyone not vaccinated has to quarantine for 10 days when entering the UK, whether they are resident returning holidaymakers or visiting Britain, and PCR tests have been required 72 hours before arrival, and at two and eight days after arrival.
Now, anyone with a recognised vaccine certificate – which includes the EU's 'Covid passport', available for residents in Spain to download from their regional health authority website – only has to take a test on day two, not on day eight, nor prior to travel to the UK.
Instead of a PCR, which can cost anything from €70 to €200 in Spain and averages around €150-plus in the UK, travellers entering the country can take a much cheaper lateral flow test (LFT) on their second day.
These are less sensitive than a PCR and do not provide complete data on viral strains and genomic information, so they are typically used to 'prove a negative' rather than to diagnose a suspected case or a contact.
If a person entering Britain tests positive with a LFT, he or she will then be required to self-isolate and take a PCR, which is provided by the national health service (NHS) and is free of charge, for UK residents and for tourists.
Countries due for removal from the 'red list' will join the quarantine-free nations from this coming Wednesday (September 22), and the 'amber' and 'green' lists and their respective requirements will be eliminated from October 4 at 04.00 UK time (05.00 mainland Spain time).
British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says the LFTs to replace PCRs, and the removal of the obligation to take a test before arrival and on day eight, will be in place by late October in order to ease foreign travel for UK residents in time for school half-term week.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com