Date confirmed for switch to lateral flow from PCR tests for fully vaccinated passengers
Fully vaccinated passengers and children arriving in England from non-red list countries can take a cheaper lateral flow test from 24 October instead of a PCR test.
The government last week said it would switch from arrivals having to take a pricey PCR test on the second day after arriving from a non-red list country but it had not set a firm date yet.
It has now confirmed from 24 October all fully vaccinated and most under 18s coming from those countries can take a lateral flow test on or before day two.
The change will come just in time for families returning from half-term holidays, which start on 22 October for most children in England.
People will be able to take photographs of their negative lateral flow results and booking reference supplied by the provider and send it back to prove they have not contracted COVID-19.
Passengers can book the tests, which still have to be bought privately, from 22 October when a list of approved private providers will be posted on gov.uk
They will also be able to book lateral flow tests at testing centres located in some airports.
Anybody who has already bought a PCR test to take after arriving does not need to buy another test.
Those who are unvaccinated will still need to take a PCR test on day two after arriving and quarantine for 10 days at home.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We want to make going abroad easier and cheaper, whether you’re travelling for work or visiting friends and family.
“Lateral flow tests will be available later this month for those returning from half-term holidays.
“This change to testing is only possible thanks to the incredible progress of our vaccination programme, which means we can safely open up travel as we learn to live with the virus.”
Under 18s, even if they are not vaccinated, can also take lateral flow tests after arriving
Last week, the traffic light system was scrapped in favour of a single red list – which currently only has seven countries on it.
They are: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
People arriving from those countries have to pay £2,285 to quarantine for 11 nights in a government-approved hotel and take PCR tests while there.
Fully vaccinated passengers from non-red list countries no longer need to take a pre-departure lateral flow test before returning to England.
But those who are unvaccinated still need to.
The government also increased the number of countries whose vaccination programmes it recognises.
Fully vaccinated arrivals from 37 new countries, including Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey, will be treated the same as double-jabbed Britons.
This means they will not have to quarantine or take a day five PCR test – just a test on day two.
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Sir Keir Starmer has said the next election will be an “open fight” between Labour and Reform UK.
The prime minister, speaking at a conference alongside the leaders of Canada, Australia and Iceland, said the UK is “at a crossroads”.
“There’s a battle for the soul of this country, now, as to what sort of country do we want to be?” he said.
“Because that toxic divide, that decline with Reform, it’s built on a sense of grievance.”
It is the first time Sir Keir has explicitly said the next election would be a straight fight between his party and Reform – and comes the day before the Labour conference begins.
Just hours before, after Sky News revealed Nigel Farage is on course to replace him, as a seat-by-seat YouGov poll found an election held tomorrow would result in a hung parliament, with Reform winning 311 seats – just 15 short of the 326 needed to win overall.
Once the Speaker, whose seat is unopposed, and Sinn Fein MPs, who do not sit in parliament, are accounted for, no other party would be able to secure more MPs, so Reform would lead the government.
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YouGov: Farage set to be next PM
Sir Keir said there is a “right-wing proposition” the UK has not had before, as it has been decades of either a Labour or Tory government, “pitched usually pretty much on the centrepiece of politics, the centre ground of politics”.
The PM said Reform and its leader, Mr Farage, provide a “very different proposition” of “patriotic national renewal” under Labour and a “toxic divide”.
He described his Labour government of being “capable of expressing who and what we are as a country accurately and in a way where people feel they’re valued and they belong, and that we can actually move forward together”.
Sir Keir referenced a march down Whitehall two weeks ago, organised by Tommy Robinson, as having “sent shivers through the spines of many communities well away from London”.
Elon Musk appeared via videolink at the rally and said “violence is coming to you”, prompting accusations of inciting violence.
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The PM said Reform presents a ‘toxic divide
The prime minister said the choice for voters at the next election, set to be in 2029, “is not going to be the traditional Labour versus Conservative”.
“It’s why I’ve said the Conservative Party is dead,” he added.
“Centre-right parties in many European countries have withered on the vine and the same is happening in this country.”
Reacting to Sir Keir’s comments, a Reform UK spokesman said: “For decades, the British people have been betrayed by both Labour and the Conservatives.
“People have voted election after election for lower taxes and controlled immigration, instead, both parties have done the opposite.
“The public are now waking up to the fact Starmer is just continuing the Tory legacy of high taxes and mass immigration.”
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