The UK introduced a list of “green countries” past summer called “Travel Corridors” that allowed leisure travelers not to quarantine after returning home.
Now, the UK has decided to scrap travel corridors with little advance notice. They will be closed at 4 AM on Monday, January 18, 2021. After that time, all passengers arriving in the UK need to have a negative Covid-19 test and quarantine for 10 days.
Here’s the announcement from the UK government:
Recent and upcoming changes
From 4am, 18 January
All travel corridors to close and you must self-isolate after arriving in the UK, even if you have tested negative. Most people travelling to the UK from abroad need proof of a negative coronavirus (COVID-19) test result. You need to have taken the test in the 3 days before you travel.
Here’s an excerpt from the BBC:
The UK is to close all travel corridors from Monday morning to “protect against the risk of as yet unidentified new strains” of Covid, the PM has said.
Anyone flying into the country from overseas will have to show proof of a negative Covid test before setting off.
It comes as a ban on travellers from South America and Portugal came into force on Friday over concerns about a new variant identified in Brazil.
Boris Johnson said the new rules would be in place until at least 15 February.
All travel corridors will close from 04:00 GMT on Monday. After that, arrivals to the UK will need to quarantine for up to 10 days, unless they test negative after five days.
Mr Johnson, who said the rules would apply across the UK after talks with the devolved administrations, added that the government would be stepping up enforcement at the border and in the country.
Travel corridors were introduced in the summer to allow people travelling from some countries with low numbers of Covid cases to come to the UK without having to quarantine on arrival.
Conclusion
UK allowed quarantine free travel from these “Travel Corridor” countries whose Covid-19 situation was much better than that of the UK’s.
It would have likely been impossible to prevent Britons from vacationing during the summertime, and enforcing any quarantine requirement impossible, hence these “travel corridor” destinations.
All passengers arriving in the UK need to have a negative Covid-19 test administered no more than 72 hours of the scheduled departure.
