Pre-departure tests to return from Tuesday 7th December

2021-12-05

On Saturday 4th December the UK government announced that travellers heading to the UK will need evidence of a negative lateral flow or PCR Covid-19 test result, taken up to 48 hours before getting on an aircraft, ferry or Eurostar/Eurotunnel.

The requirement will come into force from Tuesday 7th December in response to worries about the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

UK Covid testing requirements:

• Travellers heading to the UK will need evidence of a negative lateral flow or PCR Covid-19 test result, taken up to 48 hours before getting on an aircraft, ferry or Eurostar/Eurotunnel
• All fully vaccinated arrivals to the UK are required to self-isolate when they arrive, take a PCR test on or before day 2, and continue to self-isolate until they receive a negative result. For those who test positive, they must isolate for 10 days. There will be no change for unvaccinated travellers.
• All contacts of suspected Omicron cases must self-isolate, regardless of their vaccination status. They will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace.

The government said that new analysis by the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) indicated that the window between infection and infectiousness may be shorter for the Omicron variant “which increases the efficacy of pre-departure testing as it is more likely to identify positive cases before travel”.

It added: “Passengers are advised to take the pre-departure test as close as possible to their scheduled departure to the UK and no earlier than 48 hours before travelling.”

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