Starting at dawn on Friday, entry into the country is relaxed, but new variants must be reported
The British Government has eliminated the need to take a coronavirus test before traveling to the United Kingdom and also the requirement for a PCR test on the second day of stay. The new rules will go into effect at 5 a.m. peninsular hours (one less in London) this Friday. It will not be necessary to isolate yourself as soon as you arrive and until you know the results of a test.
The new rules do not give up on identifying new variants. Travelers are asked to do an antigen test within 48 hours of their arrival and, in the event that the test is positive for Covid, a more rigorous test, PCR, is carried out, which allows the identification of the genome of the virus causing the infection.
The tourism sector has reproached the Government for taking so long to cancel a measure that has negatively affected its recovery in the second part of 2021 and that has no justification, given the level of infections in the United Kingdom, where the number of cases is around the 200,000 daily in recent days, with the omicron variant as the main strain.
Exorbitant prices, the appalling service often offered by companies identified by the government for testing, the obvious existence of fraud in the offer of tests, or the apparent collapse of the tracking system, have caused widespread unease over the test. They have affected the mood of British travelers and tourists.
Blow to tourism
The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced these measures to Parliament, which has accepted the extension of Plan B of the Executive – use of masks in closed public spaces, work from home when possible, vaccination certificate for some forums, … – despite the fact that casualties in health centers are creating problems of access to ambulances and the hospitals themselves.
Parliament also supports the relaxation of the test requirements, as can be deduced from the content and tone of the speeches. The former prime minister, Theresa May, has stressed that Covid’s experience with omicron is not as serious as in previous waves and that the country cannot respond to each variant with confinement measures. Johnson has responded by sharing the criteria of his loser.
Restrictions and tests have had negative effects in high tourism seasons. Low-cost airline Ryanair, with multiple European bases and destinations, handled 200 flights every day in December. In total, 9.5 million passengers. The recovery is spectacular, because in the same month, a year ago, it moved 1.9 million. But it had the lowest number of passengers at the end of 2021 since August.
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