Despite COVID-19 cases in the UK surpassing 50,000 for the first time since July, the UK government has announced fully-vaccinated holidaymakers travelling from non-red listed countries will be allowed to take lateral flow tests instead of the more expensive PCR testing procedure.
The new rules were introduced this week just as the half-term holidays start, making travel plans easier for millions of families across the UK. Although lateral flow tests are considerably cheaper than their PCR counterpart, they must be purchased from a private entity as the NHS does not offer first-party support. To make things easier, lateral flow test sign-up started last Friday, and the GOV.UK website now provides a complete list of private suppliers, with prices starting at £19.
“I’m delighted that from today eligible travellers to England, who’ve had the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine, can benefit from a cheaper lateral flow test, providing faster results,” said UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid. “This huge boost to the travel industry and the public will make it easier and cheaper for people to book holidays and travel abroad, and it is because of our incredible vaccine programme that this is possible.”
Javid added: “Anyone who tests positive must take a PCR test, which, if positive, may be genomically sequenced to check for variants and further help us fight this virus.”
The travel industry rejoiced at the news as many felt the costly PCR tests were deterring many Brits from travelling abroad.
Dr Jenny Harries, the UK Health Security Agency chief executive, was critical of the news, saying: “Testing and self-isolating if you are positive, remain crucial steps to managing the pandemic and stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the community. It is also critical that those who have positive lateral flow tests when returning to England go on to get this checked through an NHS test and trace PCR. This way, we can continue to monitor new variants and stay on top of the virus.”
Since October 4, fully-vaccinated travellers no longer have to take a COVID-19 test before travelling to a non-red-listed country. However, for people 18 and over who are not fully vaccinated, they will still have to self-isolate at home for ten days after arriving in the UK.
