Covid tests for holidaymakers arriving in UK could be 'scrapped as early as next week'

Covid tests for fully vaccinated holidaymakers jetting into the UK could be scrapped, it has been reported. The current international travel rules in Scotland state that double jabbed travellers must take a PCR or a lateral flow test within two days of their arrival into the country.

But it has been reported in The Mirror that this rule could be axed in England as early as next week. The UK Government cabinet’s “Covid O” committee is set to discuss the travel rules, including the definition of “fully vaccinated”.

It is understood that travellers may be required to show evidence of their booster vaccination in order to enter the UK.Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has largely followed the UK Government in travel policy as part of a four nations approach to dealing with Covid.Whether or not the government in Scotland chooses to follow this reported change of restrictions remains unclear.A study published on Friday said that testing rules should become a ‘thing of the past’ for passengers that are fully vaccinated against Covid.The research, carried out by specialist consultants Oxera and Edge Health, is said to show that governments cannot react quickly enough to be effective against new variants of Covid.It argues that travel restrictions do not help limit the spread of Covid following the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.Airlines UK CEO Tim Alderslade said: “Testing restrictions for the fully vaccinated make no sense at all given the delay in Governments being able to detect and act on the arrival of a new variant, as we saw with Omicron .“This is something the World Health Organisation themselves have admitted.