Covid: Wales scraps pre-departure travel tests and PCR arrival tests
- Published
The Welsh government continues to advise against all but essential overseas travel
Fully vaccinated people travelling to Wales from abroad will soon no longer have to take a Covid test before their departure or a PCR test after their arrival.
Instead they will be required to take a lateral flow test on day two after arriving in Wales.
There will no longer be an obligation to quarantine before getting a negative result.
But if the test is positive, travellers must get a PCR test and isolate.
The Welsh government said the changes to the rules would come into effect from 04:00 GMT on Friday 7 January, with lateral flow tests accepted as post-arrival tests from Sunday 9 January.
In a statement, Health Minister Eluned Morgan said she was making the changes "reluctantly" and stressed the Welsh government was still advising against all but essential international travel.
The UK government announced the same rules changes for travellers to England and they apply to double vaccinated travellers and under 18s.
The rules for unvaccinated travellers remain unchanged.
'Surveillance system'
Despite relaxing the restrictions Ms Morgan said: "We are concerned at the speed at which the UK government is re-opening international travel, given on-going concerns of importing new variants and adding additional pressure to our health services.
"Day two PCR testing acts as something of a surveillance system for international travel - if we had retained the requirement for a day two PCR test we may have been alerted to the presence and introduction of omicron earlier.
"Given the UK government's decision to remove PCR testing, it is vital we work across the four nations to ensure a system of bio-surveillance is maintained to provide a way of guarding against the importation of future variants."
UK border control is the responsibility of the UK government and the Welsh government has tended to follow decisions taken by UK government ministers in relation to Covid rules on international travel.
Unvaccinated travellers coming to Wales are still required to complete a pre-departure form and have proof of a negative Covid test, taken within 48 hours of departure.
They must also isolate for up to ten days and take PCR tests on day two and day eight.
Recognised vaccinations
In addition the Welsh government has extended the list of countries and territories whose vaccination programmes it recognises.
Bhutan, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Fiji, Iraq and Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, North of Cyprus, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Solomon Islands, The Gambia and Uzbekistan will have their vaccination programmes formally recognised from Monday 10 January.