England eases COVID-19 testing rules for most incoming passengers from Oct. 24

[snoop1130]

FILE PHOTO: A worker sanitises a barrier at the International arrivals area of Terminal 5 in London's Heathrow Airport, Britain, August 2, 2021. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Fully vaccinated passengers arriving in England from low-risk countries from Oct. 24 will no longer have to take expensive COVID-19 tests, the British government said on Thursday.

 

Last month the government simplified the rules for international travel to England in a boost to the tourism industry, which has blamed the testing and complicated rules for the slowness of a recovery in air travel over the summer.

 

The government said that from Oct. 24, the start of school half-term holidays across much of England, fully vaccinated passengers and most under 18s arriving from countries not on the red list could take a lateral flow test on or before day two of their arrival, rather than a PCR lab test.

 

Lateral flow tests are cheaper and provide a faster result.

 

"Taking away expensive mandatory PCR testing will boost the travel industry and is a major step forward in normalising international travel and encouraging people to book holidays with confidence," Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said in a statement.

 

The government said passengers must use lateral flow tests purchased from a private provider listed on the government's website, rather than free ones available as part of the government Test and Trace scheme, and passengers must upload a photo of their test and booking reference to verify the result.

 

Anyone with a positive lateral flow test will be provided with a free confirmatory PCR test through the National Health Service.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-10-15

 

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(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

[Scrotobike]

TAT with a W could learn something here

[Jumbo1968]

Would a tourist want to go too the U.K. where they had a record number of cases the other day, 4200 plus !

[Uroller]

12 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Would a tourist want to go too the U.K. where they had a record number of cases the other day, 4200 plus !

Why not, safer in UK than in Thailand where they report over 10,000 cases per day and we are not convinced those numbers are correct????????????

[Jumbo1968]

25 minutes ago, Uroller said:

Why not, safer in UK than in Thailand where they report over 10,000 cases per day and we are not convinced those numbers are correct????????????

Should have read 42000 not 4200.

[VBF]

1 hour ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Would a tourist want to go too the U.K. where they had a record number of cases the other day, 4200 plus !

What, apart from the fact that we're nearly all vaccinated, you mean?

Oh, and that pretty much all entertainment is open.

[Jumbo1968]

3 minutes ago, VBF said:

What, apart from the fact that we're nearly all vaccinated, you mean?

Oh, and that pretty much all entertainment is open.

Still over 40000 cases and that’s the people who bother getting a test, no different here, people won’t go for a test as they will be hospitalised or put in a isolation facility.

[roquefort]

2 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Would a tourist want to go too the U.K. where they had a record number of cases the other day, 4200 plus !

You do realise that the number of cases is totally irrelevant in an 80+% vaccinated population.

Just keep cowering behind your sofa and the rest of us will get on with our lives.

[loong]

2 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Would a tourist want to go too the U.K. where they had a record number of cases the other day, 42,000 plus !

I think that it is important to consider that the UK has one of the highest testing rates in the world.

So far, in this pandemic UK has carried out over 318 million tests.
Thailand, with a slightly larger population has carried out a total of just over 9 million tests.

One has to wonder how many cases would be found in Thailand if testing was carried out to the same scale as the UK!

The vast majority in the UK have no symptoms or non-serious, hence there are only 7,000 currently in hospital.

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

“ England” ….. we are the United Kingdom a single undivided sovereign island nation ….. a constitutional monarchy…..the finest most successful union / form of govt. ever…..we are not some half a..sed “federation” or “republic”…..need to be rid of these embarassing useless “devolved” Bliar regional “govts” ……to be a proper country once more…. off topic so sorry but seeing “England” used in this context is like a red rag to a bull……..

[Jumbo1968]

1 hour ago, roquefort said:

You do realise that the number of cases is totally irrelevant in an 80+% vaccinated population.

Just keep cowering behind your sofa and the rest of us will get on with our lives.

I for one are not cowering behind a sofa, I believe it’s time to open Thailand up because the hardship and mental health problems the lockdown has caused.

[roquefort]

4 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I for one are not cowering behind a sofa, I believe it’s time to open Thailand up because the hardship and mental health problems the lockdown has caused.

Completely agree, but that contradicts your earlier post since Thailand's lower vaccination rate means you'd be much safer in the UK.

[KhaoYai]

1 hour ago, loong said:

I think that it is important to consider that the UK has one of the highest testing rates in the world.

So far, in this pandemic UK has carried out over 318 million tests.

Totally agree. The more you test, the more you find. I think most scientists and physicians would agree that there's an even higher number of infected people walking around with the virus than the positive test numbers show - the difference in terms of passing that infection on is that a very high proportion of the UK's population is fully vaccinated.  That doesn't stop them being infectious totally but it reduces the likelihood significantly. It also greatly reduces the chances of hospitalisation or death if you do catch the virus.

 

This is borne out by the current figures - with a reported infection rate running around 40,000, deaths are currently running at a daily average of 117.  Without checking precisely, at the height of the last 'wave in January/February, 40,000 infections was translating into a death rate around 1500 per day. The huge drop being totally attributed to the % of vaccinated people.  The figures are clear and freely available - as vaccinations increased in the UK, deaths fell.

 

So @Jumbo1968 you would be better off not taking much notice of the number of positive tests - it means very little and instead, looking at the number of deaths and hospitalisations.

 

The graphs below speak for themselves:

 

 

 

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/

Edited October 16, 2021 by KhaoYai

[bangon04]

The constant media frenzy around asymptomatic "cases" needs to stop.  What is important is the number of hospitalizations (and the number of excess deaths).

 

It is obvious from the stats that a high proportion of hospitalizations are UN-vaccinated people.

[Jumbo1968]

5 minutes ago, bangon04 said:

The constant media frenzy around asymptomatic "cases" needs to stop.  What is important is the number of hospitalizations (and the number of excess deaths).

 

It is obvious from the stats that a high proportion of hospitalizations are UN-vaccinated people.

In Thailand I believe you are hospitalised even if asymptomatic so we   can’t into account the numbers.

[Upnotover]

4 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Would a tourist want to go too the U.K. where they had a record number of cases the other day, 4200 plus !

This is not really about tourists going to the UK, it is about tourists going home after their holidays.