You will need a negative covid test to enter England from next week – even for UK residents

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

In a significant change to the UK’s coronavirus policy, all international arrivals to England will be required to present a negative coronavirus test. This could begin as early as next Thursday as long as the required legislation can be passed.

Importantly, the rules applies to returning UK residents as well as visitors. There will apparently be opt-outs for arrivals from countries where testing is not easily available, as well as for arrivals from Ireland.

The test will need to have been taken up to 72 hours before BOARDING, not arrival. It applies to boats and trains as well as air arrivals.

Children under 11 will be exempt.

At present the law will only apply to arrivals in England but it is expected that the other devolved assemblies will agree to identical measures.

The penalty for arriving without a test will be £500. However, it only talks of Border Force doing ‘spot checks’ so it is possible that the onus will be placed on the airlines to police this.

You still need to quarantine, however

Frustratingly, arriving in the UK with a negative test result will NOT remove the requirement for a 10 day quarantine period for arrivals from countries not on the ‘travel corridors’ list, although this can be reduced if you take a further test after five days.

Full details are still to be published

Legislation will be required for this move, which will be brought before Parliament next week. We may not know the exact small print, such as what sort of tests will be accepted, which countries will be exempt and exactly what sort of paperwork will be accepted by Border Force, until then.

PS. The Government quietly slipped out some changes to the ‘travel corridors’ list yesterday without the usual fanfare. Botswana, Israel, Mauritius and Seychelles will be removed from the exempt list at 4am on Saturday 9th January. You will need to quarantine for 10 days, or take ‘test to release’ after 5 days, if you are returning from these countries.

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Mike says:

8 Jan8 January 15:24

The British strain of the deadly virus is exceptionally serious.
- Dr C says:
  
  8 Jan8 January 19:07
  
  welll……….
Gemma says:

8 Jan8 January 15:33

I’m meant to fly back to the UK on Wednesday night on a 12 hour flight. It’s not possible for me to get a test at such short notice over a weekend here. Do we know when this will come into effect? When are they publishing the list of exempt countries?
- Tracey says:
  
  8 Jan8 January 16:54
  
  Take a test Monday morning, you don’t need a weekend test if you are flying back on Wednesday.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  8 Jan8 January 17:41
  
  Wednesday or Thursday. Test is required with 72 hours of departure!
Marcus says:

8 Jan8 January 17:30

Hi all,

Possible naive thought, I’ve just scanned the comments but didn’t see it mentioned but I’m sure it’s probably been covered.

If we have to take tests before returning to the UK, will this exclude us from the need to self isolate?

Thanks,
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  8 Jan8 January 17:42
  
  No you will still need to isolate for 10 days unless the country you’ve been in is on the corridor list.
  - Yuff says:
    
    8 Jan8 January 18:12
    
    Which is ridiculous, we have more cases here than anywhere else.
    Plus why wait until until next Thursday, is the virus going to pause for 6 days as well so we can get everything in place.
    - Nick_C says:
      
      8 Jan8 January 18:25
      
      “why wait until until next Thursday”
      
      People need time to arrange tests.
Phil Gollings says:

9 Jan9 January 08:24

The punishment for not arriving with a negative test is monetary not quarantine in a govt facility which speaks volumes
- Tracey says:
  
  9 Jan9 January 10:27
  
  The punishment will be not being allowed to board the plane.
Louise says:

9 Jan9 January 08:44

In my home part of Germany one in 884 has the virus, in England it’s one in 50. desperate as I am to see family I won’t be making the trip. The testing is far too late in the day and tracking those who are positive is woefully inadequate. As I understand it though if you can’t produce that negative test you can’t get on the flight. You’d have to make sure that, if you travel, you’re prepared to isolate and potentially be Ill abroad.
- GeorgeJ says:
  
  9 Jan9 January 17:35
  
  Louise, Travelling is a high risk activity at the moment and should only be undertaken by those who need to and can deal with the consequences of it all going wrong!
  However you are not comparing like with like in your data. Germany has no equivalent of the ONS surveillance data which gives the rate of one in fifty affected in England. You are giving the rate of those tested and found positive, something totally different and a much smaller rate. In any event travelling from Germany still requires quarantine as well as a test.
NigelthePensioner says:

9 Jan9 January 08:47

Testing prior to departing FOR the UK is a good start. The trouble is that not enough of the inconsiderates who insist on travelling, realise that if that test is positive, they have to isolate at their own expense according to the country that they are in at the time. Its an excellent punishment because it hits them in the pocket with extraction of hard cash! Quite why these travel corridors still exist, though, with this new testing legislation is hard to fathom. They need to go. Half of the countries wont even allow entrants from the UK at the moment anyway! So what is the point of saying “you are free to come back to the UK (with a negative test) and not quarantine” when you cant get in to the country in the first place?!! Quite ridiculous.
As of 3rd Jan, I have had my two covid vaccines, but I can still carry a viral load. Im not booking anything anytime soon and so will have little use for Rob’s next venture – Head for Vouchers!!!
Julian says:

9 Jan9 January 08:55

As far as I can see the NIMBY hysteria over testing everyone will only ensure that most normal people (that is the boring working class masses with their buckets and spades) won’t be travelling for several years more and the airline industry will remain completely on its knees.
David S says:

9 Jan9 January 10:17

Just a thought – how would anyone at the U.K. border know if it’s a PCR test or your company Health and Safety certificate ? Is there a global format and must it be in English? We don’t employ people here for their multi-lingual skills