Popular holiday destinations like Italy, Spain and Greece have been put on the amber list for travels.
The UK government has published a “traffic light” system assigning 3 different colours (green, amber and red) to every country in the world, based on data including case numbers and vaccination rates in the country.
The secretary for transport Grant Shapps has finally confirmed that international travelling will be resumed on May, 17 but only a limited number of countries will be on the ‘green list’.
Twelve countries including Portugal, Israel and Gibraltar made it to the green list which means travellers will not have to quarantine when they return to England after visiting.
This list, published on Friday, May 7 only applies to England. The devolved nations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have not yet announced when they will lift their travel restrictions.
All remaining countries will be on the ‘amber’ or ‘red’ list. This means that the Government is advising against travelling to these countries for leisure or tourism purposes.
This does not mean, however, that travelling is banned. It is allowed, but visitors should be aware that the Covid alert is still on.
On their return, people must follow certain quarantine measures. This includes 10 days of quarantine at home or in the place you are staying in the UK.
Travellers must also take a COVID-19 test on or before day two and on or after day eight of isolation.
It is also possible to end isolation early if travellers pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release Scheme. You must also complete the passenger location form and arrivals have to pay for travel-testing kits which cost around £200 per person.
People can travel from amber countries for any reason – they do not need to prove that their journey is essential, and entry is not limited to UK nationals or residents.
The government says that this new colour system will be revised every three weeks from May 17th and some countries will be put on a watchlist if they are set to change to a different colour.
By Irene Bisoni
Feature image: Unsplash