London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

Covid: No quarantine for fully jabbed US and EU travellers

Covid: No quarantine for fully jabbed US and EU travellers

People who were fully vaccinated in the EU or US will not need to isolate when coming to England, Scotland and Wales from an amber list country.

The change will come into force at 04:00 BST on Monday.

Currently, only people who received their jabs in the UK can avoid quarantine when arriving from amber list countries, except France.

The UK government said the rule change would help to reunite family and friends whose loved ones live abroad.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would apply to people who have been fully vaccinated with a jab approved by the EU or US, with the final dose at least 14 whole days before arrival.

Travellers will still need to take either a lateral flow or PCR test pre-departure and a PCR test on the second day after they arrive.

Under-18s will be exempt from isolation, and some will not have to test, depending on their age.

It come as a further 27,734 cases were reported in the UK, bringing to an end a seven-day run of falling case numbers. Wednesday's case figure was, however, down significantly from a week ago, when 44,104 cases were reported.

Another 91 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were also reported.

Tougher rules will continue to be in place for France, which is on the amber list but still requires travellers to quarantine when they return, even if they are fully vaccinated.

Mr Shapps said this advice would be reviewed at "the end of next week" as part of the rolling assessment of travel rules.

As part of the changes, international cruise ships will be able to depart from England from 2 August - after a 16-month pause.

At-a-glance: latest changes


*  People fully-jabbed in the EU or US will not need to isolate when coming to England, Scotland and Wales from an amber list country

*  The change is introduced from 04:00 BST on Monday

*  Travellers will still take a pre-departure test, and a PCR test on or before day two after arrival

*  They will need to have taken a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency, or US Food and Drug Administration

*  International cruises can depart from England once more, with new guidance

Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said the change to the rules would provide "a boost for the tourism sector and wider economy while ensuring public health is protected".

He added that the change would be "carefully monitored by clinicians and kept under close review".

The Welsh government said the move posed "clear public health risks" - but its shared open border with England made it "ineffective" to have different arrangements.

Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan said vaccines would reduce the risks but only if they were effective against any new variants of concern and cautioned against international travel for non-essential reasons this summer.

In Northern Ireland, people vaccinated in the UK and travelling from amber list countries have not needed to self-isolate since 19 July, subject to testing.

The Stormont Executive is set to consider the policy of allowing those vaccinated in the US and EU to enter Northern Ireland without quarantine on Thursday.

But what about children?

*  Children under 18 who are ordinarily resident in the US and EU will be exempt from isolation

*  Those under five years old do not need to test at all

*  Children between the ages of five and 10 will only need to complete a PCR test on day two after arrival

*  And 11 to 17-year-olds will need a pre-departure test and a PCR test before or on day two

Airlines UK, which represents big carriers, said the move would offer "a lifeline for thousands of businesses reliant on international inbound travel".

Joss Croft, of trade association UKinbound, said it would "allow the £28bn inbound tourism sector, which supports over 500,000 jobs across the UK, to finally restart".

Although US citizens will soon be able to avoid quarantine in England, Scotland and Wales, they are being urged not to travel to the UK by their country's health protection agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And the US border is currently closed to the UK, as well as many other countries, except for US citizens.

The UK and US have set up a taskforce to discuss a travel corridor, although earlier this week the White House said it had no plans to lift Covid-19 travel restrictions for non-Americans.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson told LBC on Wednesday that "we're talking to them the whole time".

Family and friends reunited

For 70-year-old Patricia Duncan in Spain, the changes will mean she can travel to England and be on hand to support her daughter ahead of an operation - without needing to isolate.

"I have another friend with mental health issues who is desperate for me to visit," she says.

"Normally I travel three or four times a year to see my family and friends, and it's been a long time. So I'm very glad that is happening."

But Fiona Clarke in Portugal says the cost of Covid testing is still a barrier for her to visit family in Brighton.

"I think we'll look very carefully, we'll wait and see what happens with the testing," she says.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said she had "real concerns" over the plan - saying: "Each individual US state does things differently," she said. "They don't have a National Health Service that has a vaccine programme like we do with the certifications.

"So we're really concerned about making sure that new variants do not come into the UK and that we do have a system that identifies where we have variants of Covid where infection is and we're able to isolate it."


Grant Shapps explains the new rules


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×