Covid in Scotland: Travel rules simplified but test regime may stay

Travellers returning to Scotland will still have to take a Covid test before leaving their holiday destination.

The international travel traffic light system is being simplified in Scotland - but rigorous testing requirements will remain for the time being.

The green and amber classifications will merge, and eight countries including Turkey and Egypt will be taken off the red list.

But Scottish ministers say they have "concerns" about relaxing the testing rules, as is planned in England.

The simpler travel list system will come into effect in October.

In England, PCR tests will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travellers returning to the country.

The Scottish government said it would not drop the testing requirements at this stage "due to significant concerns at the impact on public health".

It means holidaymakers travelling home to Scotland will still have to take a Covid test before leaving their holiday destination, and pay for a PCR test within two days of arriving home.

The decision has been criticised by parts of travel industry who warned that passengers would travel from England to avoid paying for tests.

• Amber list scrapped in overhaul of travel rules in England

• Scotland still has highest Covid infection rate in the UK

• Covid in Scotland: Where are the latest cases?

National clinical director Prof Jason Leitch said the Scottish government was going to "take a little bit more time" to consider the risks of changing the testing system.

He told Radio Scotland's Drivetime: "We're a little bit more concerned about that, that's why we're taking a little bit more time. That feels like quite a big step at this stage in the pandemic for Scotland."

Turkey, Pakistan, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya are all being removed from Scotland's red list

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Matheson added: "We have concerns that the UK government's proposals to remove the requirement for a pre-departure test for some travellers will weaken our ability to protect the public health of Scotland's communities.

"While we want to maintain a four nations approach to these matters, we need to consider urgently their implications."

The Scottish government said its current amber-level restrictions would become the default for travellers from non-red countries, with eligible fully-vaccinated travellers able to benefit from quarantine-free travel.

Eight countries will be removed from the red list - Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey - from next Wednesday.

The number of countries recognised in the eligible vaccinated traveller policy is being expanded to include Canada, Australia, Israel, and New Zealand from 4 October.

'No justification'

The move led to criticism from Edinburgh Airport, with a spokesman accusing the Scottish government of deciding to "diverge yet again and further curtail Scotland's aviation and travel industries in their recovery".

He said: "We are now the most restrictive country in Europe yet there is no justification or health benefit to retaining testing measures, something clinical professionals and experts have themselves said.

"This is great news for airports in Manchester and Newcastle - passengers will now travel there to avoid expensive tests and save around £100 per person, taking money out of Scotland's economy and threatening our airline capacity."

Linda Hill Millar, owner and director of Ayrshire-based LAH Travel, said the travel industry had been hoping for boost with the latest announcement but it now faces a "very bleak winter"

"It's frustrating and all it's going to do is push business south of the border," she said.

Genomic testing

As part of its announcement, the UK government said that from October, it would be able to replace the day two PCR test for travellers returning to England with a cheaper, rapid lateral flow test.

But Prof Leitch said said one issue with this is that lateral flow testing won't allow genomic analysis which could detect new variants.

He said: "You need to be able to genomically test a PCR test to know if you've got a new variant. That's one of the reasons why we might keep it."

Eleanor Gaunt, a virologist at Edinburgh University, told BBC Scotland's The Seven that lateral flow tests would only pick up 70% of the positive cases that PCR tests do.

She said: "It's more important that Scotland keeps PCR testing because then we'll have a litmus test for what's happening in the rest of the UK as well."

Prof Devi Sridhar, a member of the Scottish government's Covid-19 advisory group, said PCR test should be made cheaper for travellers.

She told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "We have to figure out a way to make it cheaper and more accessible so people can travel but I think letting go of PCR testing is letting go of one of the main ways we would identify a new variant and be able to even know if it was coming in, it was being seeded."

• RULES: What are the restrictions in your area?

• EASING: What rules are changing, and when?

• CASES: Where are the latest cases in Scotland?

• WHO? The people who have died with Covid-19