The United Kingdom will eliminate the mandatory quarantine upon returning to England from countries on the amber list of risk for COVID-19, such as Spain, for people fully vaccinated against the disease from July 19, as confirmed by the Minister of Transport, Grant Shapps.
"I can confirm that, from July 19, UK residents who are fully vaccinated will not have to self-isolate when they return to England," he said, before stressing that, "in essence", the new rule means that, for fully vaccinated travelers, the requirements are the same for both green and amber list countries, where countries such as Greece, France or Italy are also listed.
In an intervention in the House of Commons, collected by the British press, Shapps has detailed that travelers with the full schedule will be exempt from keeping the mandatory ten-day quarantine - which can be done at home and not in a hotel - but will have to undergo a PCR on the second day of returning to the country. The rule also applies to those under 18 years of age.
"Travelers will still be asked to take a test three days before returning, the pre-departure test, which proves they are negative before traveling, and a PCR on the second day or before," explained the head of the Transport portfolio, who pointed out that the authorities will no longer require another test on the eighth day.
Shapps, who has warned that travel rules may differ in the different British territories, has clarified that being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 means that 14 days have passed since the person in question received the second dose. People who do not have the two doses and do not keep the mandatory quarantine may face fines exceeding 10,000 pounds (more than 11,600 euros).
In this context, Shapps has warned that amber countries may enter the red list -- which includes India, Turkey or Brazil -- and has warned that the British authorities will not change their policy for people arriving from nations with high CovidD-19 risk. Passengers arriving from red list countries have to quarantine in a hotel designated by the British Government.
The Executive of the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has repeatedly insisted on its intention to implement the exemption to the mandatory quarantine upon returning from amber countries for vaccinated people, justifying that its objective was to allow vaccinated people to "recover some restricted freedoms."
The date on which the measure will enter into force, July 19, coincides with the suspension of several restrictions imposed in the framework of the pandemic, such as the use of masks or physical distancing, in what is the last step of the 'roadmap' of the de-escalation in the United Kingdom.
The country has seen a significant rebound in its daily Covid-19 infections in recent weeks, attributed to the spread of the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, found for the first time in India. British health authorities reported 32,548 new cases on Wednesday, its highest figure since January 23. More than 4.9 million people have contracted COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, where more than 128,300 people have died from the disease.
