Date of Issue: 29th July 2021
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary has announced that people who are fully vaccinated in the EU or USA will not need to isolate when coming to England, Scotland and Wales from an amber list country. The change will come into force at 04:00 hrs on Monday 2nd August.
Currently, only people who received their jabs in the UK can avoid quarantine when arriving from amber list countries, except France. Mr Shapps said it would apply to people who have been fully vaccinated with a jab approved by the EU or USA. Travellers will still need to take either a lateral flow or PCR test pre-departure and a PCR test on the second day after they arrive in the UK.
Tougher rules will continue to be in place for France, which is on the amber list but still requires travellers to quarantine when they return, even if they are fully vaccinated.
Mr Shapps said this advice would be reviewed at the end of next week (week ending 6th August) as part of the rolling assessment of travel rules. The Welsh government said it would adopt the change because it shared an open border with England, making it "ineffective" to have different arrangements.
Children under 18 who are ordinarily resident in the USA and EU will be exempt from isolation. Those under five years old do not need to test at all. Children between the ages of five and ten will only need to complete a PCR test on day two after arrival and 11 to 17-year-olds will need a pre-departure test and a PCR test before or on day two.
Organisers of ACU events wanting to accept foreign entries from the EU and/or the USA should be aware of the above change and notify their competitors accordingly. They should also be mindful that a further review will take place at the end of next week (on or around 6th Aug).