England will open borders to double-jabbed EU & US citizens in much-needed boost for London recovery
The Government will reopen England to the world after plans to allow fully-vaccinated travellers from the EU and the US to enter the country without quarantining were approved today.
The new regime, which could come into effect as soon as next week, was approved by cabinet ministers in the Covid Operations Committee on Wednesday morning, Grant Shapps confirmed on Twitter.
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From 2 August, people from the US and Europe will no longer have to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated, the transport secretary said.
Travellers will still need to do the usual pre-departure test before arrival and take a PCR test on day two of returning to the England, he said.
Airlines welcomed the move, but said it should be consolidated by moving more countries onto the UK’s travel green list next week.
“Ministers should combine this progress with moving more low-risk countries from the Amber to Green list next week to allow more people to travel safely and with confidence”, said Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK.
“The evidence suggests many more EU countries should go green and this remains the best way to provide passengers with the reassurance to book, along with the removal of onerous testing requirements which are adding hundreds of pounds unnecessarily to the cost of travel.”
According to multiple reports, PM Boris Johnson had become frustrated with the EU’s progress in opening up international travel.
The change will come as good news not just to the millions in the UK with family in the affected countries but for the capital’s economy, too.
The West End in particular has been hit hard by the lack of inbound tourism, even as the country began to open up.
Joss Croft, chief executive of tourism body UKinbound, said: “Today’s announcement that quarantine will be removed for vaccinated US and EU visitors to England is a fantastic step forward that will allow the £28bn inbound tourism sector, which supports over 500,000 jobs across the UK, to finally restart.”
Johnson’s move to a focus on vaccination reflects increasing confidence that the link between cases and deaths or serious illness has been broken by the vaccination programs in both Europe and the States.
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The PM will also hope his move is reciprocated by others, potentially saving the summer tourism season.