The United Kingdom is planning to implement a ‘traffic-light’ scheme for international travel
LONDON (Monitoring Desk) As the UK emerges from its state of emergency, it aims to reintroduce a “traffic-light” system today (Monday) to enable international travel to resume. The news comes as the United kingdom has set a tentative date for resuming international travel of May 17th. Downing Street said in a statement late Saturday that travel destinations would be rated orange, amber, or red based on their virus risk, with the government to provide more information on Monday.
Except for a few limited exceptions, international travel is currently prohibited. This has resulted in an increase in demand for summer vacations abroad. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, We are doing all we can to allow the reopening of our country as safely as possible. The new framework, according to the government, will help ensure that the United Kingdom’s vaccine success is not jeopardized and provide specific guidance for travelers.
The government announced that people travelling to low-risk “green” countries would simply take a virus test before and after their journey. Those travelling to amber or red nations, on the other hand, would need to self-isolate or quarantine afterward. People who arrive in the UK from abroad are currently expected to self-isolate for ten days.
Arriving British citizens from countries on the restricted “red list” of high-risk countries must pay for expensive quarantine in government-approved hotels. The government advised citizens not to book summer vacations because it was “too early to guess” the countries would be approved.
The government has announced that starting this month, a number of people will be allowed to attend public events such as football games as part of a virus certification system trial. However, it has not stated if “virus passports” would be issued for international travel, an idea supported by several tourism-dependent countries and airlines but opposed by more than 70 United kingdom Members of parliament.
About 31 million first vaccine doses and over 5 million second doses have already been distributed in the United Kingdom. The deployment has far outpaced traditional vacation spots like France. This has strengthened public opinion since the epidemic took the lives of more than 126,000 people in the United Kingdom, the highest toll in Europe.
