UK Government Mulls Quarantine Exemption For Fully Vaccinated US, EU Travelers - Reports

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2021) The UK government is considering exempting fully vaccinated travelers from the United States and the European Union from observing the 10-day self-isolation rule in force for arrivals from amber list countries, amid mounting pressure from the aviation industry to loosen up travel restrictions, the UK media reported on Wednesday.

Currently, only UK citizens and residents who have been double vaccinated in the UK are eligible for skipping the self-isolation period after returning from an amber list country. On Monday, Heathrow airport chief executive officer John Holland-Kaye urged the UK government to allow fully vaccinated people to travel in and out of the country, warning that UK's largest airport was falling behind European rivals because of the continuing restrictions on international travel.

The Guardian newspaper reported, however, that senior ministers will be meeting later today to sign off on plans that would give UK nationals living abroad and US and EU citizens the same treatment, as long as they can show proof of being fully vaccinated in their countries of residence with one of the COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the UK.

According to the Financial Times, visitors from the EU and US would still have to present a negative pre-departure test and take a further test on day two of their stay in the UK.

UK Work and Pensions Secretary, Therese Coffey, said "no decision" has yet been made, but confirmed that ministers will be meeting on Wednesday to discuss the plans.

"I have to say no decision has been made. Ministers will be meeting to discuss, go through the data," Coffey told Sky news broadcaster.

The minister said, however, that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden had talked about it when they met at the G7 summit in June, so, "it should be no surprise if we are looking at ways at how we can facilitate travel."

Speaking to Sky News shortly after Coffey's interview, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, said that lifting the self-isolation rule for foreign arrivals would be "reckless."

"This is reckless. We know that the Delta variant came into this country and delayed the lifting of some of the restrictions and caused infections here. We need to make sure that we have got a proper data-driven analysis and that we look at an international passport for vaccines," Rayner said.

The company operating Heathrow reported losses of 2.9 billion Pounds ($4 billion) over the past six months as a result of COVID-19 travel restrictions, still in force in the United Kingdom, despite official data showing that over 70% of the UK adult population have been double vaccinated against the coronavirus.