Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary of the United Kingdom, has confirmed that fully vaccinated UK travellers returning to England from ‘Amber List’ countries will no longer have to quarantine. This is a major step taken by the government of United Kingdom towards the reopening of international borders.
Effective 04:00 hours on 19th July 2021, fully vaccinated UK travellers coming from ‘Amber list’ countries will no longer have to quarantine. This is also applicable to travellers under the age of 18.
Grant Shapps tweeted:
Eligible travellers will still need to take a pre-departure COVID-19 test three days before boarding their flight, as well taking a Day 2 test (which can be carried any time on or before day 2) on arrival. However, they no longer need to take the Day 8 test, meaning that the rules for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from Amber List countries will effectively be the same as for all travellers arriving from Green List destinations.
Travellers will need to prove their vaccination status, either through the NHS app or the letter available by calling 119.
The countries or territories which are on UK’s Amber list are:
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- The Bahamas
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Congo
- Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Curaçao
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic (Czechia)
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- French Polynesia
- Gabon
- The Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece (including islands)
- Greenland
- Guadeloupe
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Madagascar
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Martinique
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Nauru
- Netherlands
- New Caledonia
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- The Occupied Palestinians Territories
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Poland
- Portugal (including the Azores) – Madeira is on the green watchlist
- Réunion
- Romania
- Russia
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islanda
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain (including the Canary Islands) – the Balearic Islands are on the green watchlist
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Maarten
- St. Martin and St. Barthélemy
- St. Pierre and Miquelon
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Ukraine
- United States (USA)
- Usbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Wallis and Futuna
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
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Note that the above applies to arrivals into England – those arriving into other UK nations may be subject to different conditions (I will update this article as that becomes clear).
Commenting on this, Sean Doyle, Chairman and CEO, British Airways, said:
We’re pleased to see this common sense approach which is already working safely for many other countries, but there is more work to do. While the quarantine requirement for ‘amber’ countries is being lifted for fully vaccinated UK travellers, the Government needs to quickly extend this to all vaccinated travellers, agree a reciprocal deal with the US, add more countries to the ‘green’ list and reduce the need for unnecessary, expensive tests. This will allow the UK to catch up with other countries and send a message that Global Britain is now, finally, open again.
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and London Heathrow Airport recently launched vaccination status trials in an effort to allow the fully vaccinated travellers to skip quarantine.
Featured image by Heathrow Airport
What do you think of UK’s latest decision to remove quarantine for travellers arriving from Amber List countries? Let me know in the comments section below.
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