The United Kingdom (UK) says it will remove all remaining
COVID-19 travel restrictions in place for foreign travellers, effective Friday,
March 18.
Grant Shapps, UK transport secretary, said the restrictions
to be lifted includes the passenger locator form (PLF) for arrivals into the UK
and all tests for passengers who do not qualify as vaccinated.
Consequently, unvaccinated passengers will no longer be
required to take a pre-departure test and a second-day post-arrival test.
“The UK is leading the world in removing all remaining
COVID-19 travel restrictions, and today’s announcement is a testament to the
hard work everyone in this country has put in place to roll out the vaccine and
protect each other,” Shapps said in a statement issued on Monday.
“I said we wouldn’t
keep travel measures in place for any longer than necessary, which we’re
delivering on today – providing more welcome news and greater freedom for
travellers ahead of the Easter holidays.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the travel sector
and partners around the world to keep international travel moving.”
Sajid Javid, health and social care secretary, said the
removal of the travel restrictions is down to the “incredible success” of the
UK’s vaccination programme.
“As we learn to live
with COVID-19, we’re taking further steps to open up international travel once
again ahead of the Easter holidays,” he said.
“We will continue monitoring and tracking potential new
variants and keep a reserve of measures that can be rapidly deployed if needed
to keep us safe.
“We can remove these final restrictions thanks to the
incredible success of our vaccination programme, which has seen more than 8 out
of 10 adults across the UK boosted.”
The UK said it will, however, “maintain a range of
contingency measures” so as to be able to take prompt action “to delay any
future harmful variants of COVID-19 entering the UK should the need arise”.
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