UK slashes quarantine period to 5 days for travellers as Christmas nears

In a recent COVID-19 travel update, England has announced to cut its quarantine period to five days for those who test negative after the 5-day isolation period. Country’s transport secretary Grant Shapps made this announcement of shortening its mandatory 14-day quarantine time on Tuesday, in a bid to boost their Christmas holiday travels.

He said that the new rule will apply to travellers who arrive from countries outside its travel corridor from December 15, 2020. Explaining further, Shapps said, “By giving people the choice to test on day 5, we are also supporting the travel industry as it continues to rebuild out of the pandemic. Our new testing strategy will allow us to travel more freely, see loved ones and drive international business.”Government is calling this Test to Release for International Travel strategy wherein travellers will have to book and pay for their Coronavirus test from an approved private firm on or after Day 5 of their arrival. For this test, travellers will have to pay around 100 pounds (INR 9888). Results normally take a day or two. They will also have to fill a passenger locator form, wherein one has to fill details such as mode of commute.
England, as of now, is in its second nationwide lockdown till December 2. With this new scheme, the country is hoping to revive its travel industry after lockdown gets over. As per the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the UK has recorded 1,531,267 cases since the onset of the pandemic with 1,314,888 reported in England.

After experiencing a sharp dip in the number, COVID-19 cases in the UK spiked once again in November. So, the country decided to go under a second lockdown on November 5 to control the spread. Now with Christmas holidays approaching, British authorities on Tuesday gave a green signal to holiday reunions.