Overseas holidays to get the go ahead from 17 May with rules attached
The ban on overseas holidays will end on 17 May, the government will announce next week, in a move that will legalise foreign travel for the first time in months.
A traffic light system will be introduced, and those who choose to travel will be expected to take a PCR test before returning to the UK, to identify if they have coronavirus.
The new traffic light system will group countries into three tiers – green, amber and red – which will have different travel rules applied to them, the Telegraph first reported.
For ‘green’ countries, travellers will have to take one test 72 hours before returning to England, and one test when they arrive back in the country.
‘Amber’ countries will require travellers to take a pre-departure test, quarantine 10 days at home upon their arrival and take PRC tests on quarantine days two and eight, with the option to pay for an extra PCR test to be released from isolation early.
Those who have been vaccinated could see more flexibility in the rules, with no home quarantine.
Those who choose to visit red list countries will face hotel quarantine, alongside testing, direct flights will still be banned, and Britons currently in those countries must fly home via a third nation.
As yet it is unclear which countries will be on which list, however it is thought a small number of countries will qualify for ‘green’ status, while most European countries will be put on the amber list.
Coronavirus cases have fallen dramatically in the UK in recent weeks, with now only around one in 1,000 having Covid.
The latest statistics showed a 40 per cent drop in cases from the previous week, despite the reopening of hospitality outdoors and non-essential shops.