On Friday, the UK government announced that all COVID-19 travel rules would be phased out. Grant Shapps, the British transport secretary, broke the news. As of now, visitors to the U must fill out a locator form before arriving, and unvaccinated visitors must take a COVID-19 test before departure, among other requirements. However, the government has now decided to repeal all remaining regulations.
Shapps confirmed on Twitter that all rules will be lifted at 4:00 a.m. on Friday. “These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout and mean greater freedom in time for Easter,” he tweeted.
This means that those who have not been fully vaccinated are now welcome to enter the country without any restrictions. Such visitors will not be required to take any COVID-19 tests before or after entering the UK. The passenger locator form rule has also been repealed.
Concerning the new Covid strains in the future, the UK government stated that, in conjunction with the “Living with Covid” plan, the least stringent measures for restricting travel would be used.
Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, also announced that its mandatory mask rules would be lifted as of Wednesday. However, passengers will be required to wear masks when flying to or from countries with local mask mandates.
Scotland and Wales have also decided to follow England’s lead and eliminate the remaining border controls.