UK to scrap all travel corridors from Monday morning in bid to avoid new Covid strains disrupting vaccine

The UK is to scrap all travel corridor arrangements from 4am on Monday morning in a bid to prevent new coronavirus strains from entering the country as the vaccine roll-out proceeds.

The arrangements that allow travellers from some green-listed destinations to enter the UK without having to quarantine will come to an end, Boris Johnson announced at a press conference on Friday.

The measures come in addition to a ban on travel from South America and Portugal announced by Downing Street on Thursday over concerns that different strains of Covid-19 could potentially disrupt the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Mr Johnson said the “additional steps” were needed to “stop these new strains from entering the country”.

Travel corridors scrapped

He explained: “To protect us against the risk of as-yet unidentified new strains, we will close all travel corridors from 0400 on Monday. Following conversations with the devolved administrations, we will act together so that this applies across the whole of the UK.

“This means that if you come to this country, this means you must have proof of a negative Covid test that you have taken in the 72 hours before leaving, and you must have filled in your passenger locator form, and your airline will ask for both before you take off.

“You may also be checked when you land and face substantial fines for refusing to comply, and upon arrival you must then quarantine for ten days, not leaving your home for any reason at all, or take another test on day five and wait for proof of another negative result.

“We will be stepping up our enforcement, both at the border and in-country, and it’s vital to take these measures now when we are making such strides in protecting the population.”

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New rules for travel

Under the changes, the UK will not permit travellers from any country to enter the UK without a quarantine period.

Travellers will be required to provide proof of a negative test prior to travel, and will be required to abide by a strict quarantine for ten days after arrival. People can get out of quarantine slightly earlier if they receive a negative coronavirus test result after five days.

Most of the UK’s popular travel destinations, including nearly all of mainland Europe, had already been removed from the travel corridor scheme long before to the announcement.

However, travellers from Japan, New Zealand, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Malaysia were among those who were able to avoid quarantine. Other exemptions, such as those protecting lorry drivers, will remain.

Where did travel corridors still apply?

Prior to the announcement, the UK had travel corridor arrangements for travellers from:

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• ArubaAustralia
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Bermuda
• Bhutan
• Bonaire/St Eustatius/Saba
• British Antarctic Territory
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• British Virgin Islands
• Brunei
• Cambodia
• Cayman Islands
• the Channel Islands
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Falkland Islands
• Faroe Islands
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Fiji
• Finland
• Gibraltar
• Greek islands: Corfu, Crete, Kos, Rhodes, Zakynthos
• Greenland
• Grenada
• Hong Kong
• Iceland
• Ireland
• the Isle of Man
• Japan
• Kiribati
• Laos
• Macao (Macau)
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Montserrat
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Norway
• Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
• Qatar
• Rwanda
• Samoa
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• Solomon Islands
• South Korea
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• Sri Lanka
• St Barthélemy
• St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Pierre and Miquelon
• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• Tonga
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• Vanuatu
• Vietnam

Outbound travel continues to be heavily restricted under national lockdown rules which came into force last week. Rules in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all stipulate that people should stay at home, barring international travel unless outside of a limited set of reasons, such as work.