Britain’s government tightened travel restrictions on Saturday amid concerns about the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, saying all travellers arriving in England will need to take a Covid-19 test before they board their flight.
The UK government has announced that those travelling into the country will need to show a negative coronavirus test pre-departure as it reintroduces Covid-19 restrictions due to the Omicron variant.
From 0400 GMT on Tuesday, anyone travelling to the UK will have to show evidence of a negative lateral flow or PCR test taken within the last 48 hours before boarding a flight, the health ministry said late Saturday.
This will apply to travellers aged over 12 from any country. Currently travellers have to take a PCR test within two days of arrival.
The reintroduction of compulsory pre-departure testing prompted an angry response from the travel industry.
The Business Travel Association said that the measure would be a “hammer blow”, while the Airport Operators Association said that “pre-departure tests are a devastating blow, as they deter people from travelling”.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News that he knew the new measure was a “burden for the travel industry” but stressed the UK needed to act.
“We’ve got to take the measures targeted forensically to stop the new variant seeding in this country to create a bigger problem.”
The government has vowed it “will take further decisive action if necessary to contain the virus and new variant”.
The UK earlier banned flights from South Africa and put 10 African countries on its red list, meaning only UK and Irish citizens or UK residents can travel from there to the UK. Nigeria will join the list from Monday.
Experts cautioned that travel restrictions and bans will not halt the virus spread.
Statistician David Spiegelhalter, a University of Cambridge professor who co-authored a history of the pandemic, told Sky News that “travel restrictions at the moment are only going to slow things up a little bit.. but they’re not going to stop it (Omicron) and it’s going to come in”.
England has made masks compulsory again in shops and on public transport in response to the new variant, with 160 Omicron cases confirmed for far in the UK.
The UK has also extended its booster programme to make all adults eligible.
Health secretary Sajid Javid said the new rules will apply from 4am London time on Tuesday. “In light of the most recent data, we are taking further action to slow the incursion of the omicron variant,” he said in a tweet.
Javid also added Nigeria to the UK’s travel “red list”, which means that arrivals from there will be banned except for UK and Irish residents, and those travellers must isolate in designated quarantine facilities.
Britain’s health security agency on Sunday reported 86 new cases of the Omicron variant, taking the total number identified so far to 246.
New variant found in 15 US states, says CDC
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been found in about 15 US states as of Saturday night but the Delta variant remains the majority of cases nationwide, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky told ABC News on Sunday.
Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, said on Sunday he hopes the ban on travellers from southern African countries can be lifted in a “reasonable period of time”.
Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union” programme that US authorities are mindful of the hardship the travel ban is causing in those countries and are constantly re-evaluating the policy.
Covid death toll nears 5.25 million mark
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 5,249,851 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Sunday. At least 264,784,370 cases of coronavirus have been registered. The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.
