Travel traffic light system scrapped – and changes to COVID tests for fully jabbed holidaymakers announced
A major relaxing of travel rules for people coming in and out of England have been announced by the transport secretary.
From 4 October, the current traffic light system of red, amber and green countries will be scrapped and replaced with one red list only.
Travel traffic light system scrapped – follow live updates
Anywhere not on the red list is considered green and clear for travel – there will no longer be an amber list.
Also from that date, travellers will no longer need to take pre-departure tests for travelling into England from abroad.
Then, from the end of October, fully vaccinated passengers from non-red list countries will be able to replace day-two PCR tests with cheaper lateral flow tests.
Those unvaccinated will still have to pay for PCR tests.
Anyone testing positive will need to isolate and take a free confirmatory PCR test which would be genomically sequenced to help identify new variants.
This means the new system, which is expected to stay in place at least until the New Year, should be in effect as people return from half-term breaks.
The government has also announced that from 4am on 22 September, eight destinations will be removed from the red list.
The destinations are:
• Turkey
• Pakistan
• The Maldives
• Egypt
• Sri Lanka
• Oman
• Bangladesh
• Kenya
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the UK’s high vaccination rates allow for the changes to be made
Those returning from red list countries will still need to spend 10 days in a government-approved quarantine hotel.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Today’s changes mean a simpler, more straightforward system. One with less testing and lower costs, allowing more people to travel, see loved ones or conduct business around the world while providing a boost for the travel industry.
“Public health has always been at the heart of our international travel policy and with over 44 million people fully vaccinated in the UK, we are now able to introduce a proportionate updated structure that reflects the new landscape.”
Later speaking to reporters, Mr Shapps continued: “We wanted to bring a new, simpler, easier to navigate and cheaper system as well and so we have bought this in until the New Year at the very least and the purpose is to make it easier for people to travel without the bureaucracy, without so many tests and with a greater level of certainty – now that we have got so many people vaccinated.”
The transport secretary said the change could not have been made sooner because the scientific advice did not favour it.
The regular three-weekly update of which destinations are designated green, amber and red had been due on Thursday but it was delayed by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle.
The changes will apply to England only.
From 4 October, travellers will no longer need to take pre-departure tests for travelling into England from abroad
Travel industry representatives are likely to welcome the move which allows greater freedom for individuals to travel in the lead up to Christmas.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Today we have simplified the travel rules to make them easier to understand and follow, opening up tourism and reducing the costs to go abroad.
“As global vaccination efforts continue to accelerate and more people gain protection from this dreadful disease, it is right that our rules and regulations keep pace.”
Transport Committee chairman and Conservative MP Huw Merriman said the changes are “welcome”.
“The committee has called out confusing watchlists and quarantines; criticised the delay in reaping the benefit of the vaccine dividend and puzzled over the high costs and lack of sequencing of PCR tests,” he said in a statement on behalf of the Commons committee.
“We note that using lateral flow tests may now incur a cost; it’s important that any alternative testing system is fairly priced and administered.
Those returning from red list countries will still need to spend 10 days in a government-approved quarantine hotel
“The need for caution is clear but with 80% of our country now vaccinated, UK travel needs a shot in the arm and this could be it.
“It’s a relief to see the government move on these issues and this announcement, timed ahead of October half-term, could have an immediate impact on the UK’s travel industry.”
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Henry Smith, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Future of Aviation, added: “These announcements are good news for our aviation, travel and tourism businesses who have been the hardest and longest hit by the pandemic.”
A judo Olympian has said her family is “devastated” after the discovery of body in the search for her missing brother.
Lubjana Piovesana, 28, appealed for help to find her younger sibling, Luis, 26, on Saturday. He had not been seen since the early hours of Friday morning.
A body was found in the River Frome near Napier Road in Eastville, Bristol, at around 6pm today, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Formal identification is yet to take place, the force added.
In a post on Instagram, Ms Piovesana wrote: “Hello everyone, Luis has been found.
“We are completely devastated but he has passed away.
“I am grateful for everyone’s support. And I am so sorry this happened.
“Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone. He will be remembered by us all.”
The post was signed off with a dove emoji.
Luis Piovesana did not have any money or his mobile phone with him when he went missing, police said. Pics: Avon & Somerset Police
Mr Piovesana was last seen at around 3am on Friday at the Eastgate retail park, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from where the body was found.
He had travelled there by taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude’s, a 10-minute drive away.
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The 26-year-old’s family spent the weekend searching for him, and asked people to check their sheds and gardens.
His partner, Laurin Bohler, said loved ones had travelled from Birmingham to help.
Mounted officers and police drones were also involved in the investigation.
Ms Piovesana competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team, and defeated British competitor Lucy Renshall in the women’s -63kg judo event at the Paris Olympics last year.
A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.
Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.
Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.
Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.
While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.
He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
‘Last time on their school run’
During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.
He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.
Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.
Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.
“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.
The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.
“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.
“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”
Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.
He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.
The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.
‘The rock of our family’
In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.
She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.
“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.
“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”
Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.
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Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.
“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.
Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.
In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.
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