Covid: Shapps hopes travel test changes happen by end of half-term holidays

Bookings to South Africa rose by 150% after it was removed from the red list, Virgin Atlantic said

The transport secretary says he hopes to change the Covid tests people coming into the UK must take before families return from half-term holidays.

But Grant Shapps did not give a date for when expensive PCR tests would be swapped for cheaper lateral flow tests.

Currently, fully vaccinated adults entering the UK must take a PCR test within two days of arriving.

He also defended cutting the travel red list to seven countries, saying vaccines "massively reduced" the risks.

For many schools in England and Wales the half-term holidays start on 22 October, with families going away on foreign trips.

The transport secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he hoped the switch to lateral flow tests was in place "in time for people returning from a half-term holidays potentially, and certainly by the end of October".

He added the Department of Health and the Home Office were working hard to figure out the details, and there would be an announcement "very soon".

Describing PCR tests as "expensive and cumbersome", he suggested that families "may want to hold off" booking their post-arrival tests while details of the change were finalised.

Once the switch to lateral flow tests happens, arrivals would have to take a photograph of the cassette containing their result, Mr Shapps confirmed.

In addition to people taking their tests at home, some airports might offer passengers the ability to take lateral flow tests "as soon as coming through the gates", he said.

People who test positive on a lateral flow from home would be automatically sent a PCR test - which would then be sequenced for any Covid variants of concern.

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The transport secretary also defended cutting the travel red list from 54 countries to seven, saying that vaccination levels in the UK and abroad had "massive reduced" the Covid risks and the quality of lateral flow tests had improved.

Last night travel firms welcomed the easing of quarantine rules, with airline Jet2 saying its bookings had trebled in some cases.

But industry body Abta insisted it wanted the switch from PCR tests - which can cost about £75 per person - to happen in time for the half-term break, with Heathrow airport describing it as "critical" to saving holidays.

Popular destinations such as South Africa, Thailand and Mexico are among the 47 places which will be removed from the red list on Monday at 04:00 BST, making travel much easier and cheaper.

Which countries are still on the red list?

• Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic remain on the UK's red list under the latest changes

• If you have been in one of these countries in the last 10 days you cannot travel to the UK

• The only exception is if you are are a UK or Irish national or UK resident - in which case, you must pay to stay in a government-approved quarantine hotel for 11 nights at a cost of £2,285 for one adult

• There is concern about the presence of two Covid variants - known as the Mu and Lambda - that the World Health Organization has designated as Variants of Interest in the countries and territories that have remained on the red list

• Ministers consider risk assessments by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) when deciding which countries to remove or add to the red list

• The data for all countries is kept under review, and the government says it will act if a country's epidemiological situation changes

Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy said there was "enormous" pent-up demand and customers are responding to the "assurance that the UK government is finally giving them".

Virgin Atlantic reported a 150% increase in bookings to South Africa over the previous week, following Thursday's announcement.

It called the relaxation in travel rules a "positive step" but said the UK should follow the EU and US in eliminating all testing for fully vaccinated passengers from low-risk countries.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, said: "The reduction of the red list to seven countries is a sensible step forward in further opening up international travel.

"These changes along with the simpler system for travel means now is the best time in a long time to book and travel on a foreign holiday."

But he urged the UK government to introduce the changes to PCR tests in time for half-term and called on the devolved administrations to implement similar changes quickly.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have all said they will also cut the number of countries on the red list to seven.

But the Welsh government warned the measures "considerably increase" the risk of importing new variants.

Eluned Morgan, Wales' health minister, said she was only taking this step because the open border with England made a separate travel policy unviable.

She said in a statement that the "radical reduction" in red list countries and the plans to use lateral flow tests for returning travellers would "considerably increase" the risk of new variants being introduced to the UK.

The latest measures also make it easier for travellers vaccinated in 37 countries - including Brazil, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey - to travel to the UK.

As long as they have not visited a red list country or territory within the previous 10 days, they will be treated the same as fully vaccinated UK residents.

In full: 47 places removed from red list

The following destinations will be removed from the red list from 04:00 BST on Monday:

Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Congo (Democratic Republic), Costa Rica, Cuba, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Georgia, Guyana, Indonesia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Paraguay, Philippines, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Source: Department for Transport

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