New Delhi: Travel restrictions are going to become a lot more relaxed in the UK, much to the relief of people and businesses in the country. Starting from February 11, 4 am fully vaccinated arrivals are only a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) now required.
Meanwhile, people who are not recognized as fully vaccinated will only need to take a pre-departure test and a PCR test on or before the second day after they arrive in the UK.
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The changes announced on January 24, said that children aged 12-15 in England will be able to prove their vaccination status or proof of prior infection via a digital NHS CovidPass from February 3 for outbound travel. Travel changes come in ahead of the February half term, and follow the success of the booster program.
The UK was able to successfully carry out a vaccine and booster rollout, the government is now able to reduce the number of travel restrictions, ensuring there is a more proportionate system in place for passengers. Before the end of February, eligible fully vaccinated travelers will only need to fill out the passenger locator form (PLF), which will be simplified, confirming their vaccination status, travel history and contact details, and people will have an extra day to fill it out before traveling.
For inward travel, all under-18s regardless of their individual vaccination status will continue to be considered as fully vaccinated.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We made the right calls at the right time and thanks to our vaccine and booster rollout it’s paying off – allowing us to safely remove nearly all Covid-19 travel restrictions for vaccinated travellers.
“This final step in our stable and safe full return to international travel is a major boost for UK tourism, setting Britain free ahead of the crucial half term and spring holiday season.”
While the red list will continue to remain in place as the first line of defense against future variants of concern arriving from abroad, the government is looking to replace the hotel quarantine policy with other contingency measures including home isolation and further details will be set out on this later in the spring.
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