UK To Require Pre-Departure Testing For All Inbound Foreign Travellers

Beginning tomorrow, the UK will tighten its entry requirements for inbound foreign travellers.

All international travellers aged 12 and over, regardless of vaccination status, will need to provide proof of a negative pre-departure test -- either PCR or lateral flow (LFD) -- taken no more than 48 hours prior to their departure for the UK.

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The changes are part of an effort to slow the importation of the Omicron variant, which is quickly spreading to countries around the world. More than 130 cases have already been detected in the U.K.

Airlines will be responsible for ensuring travellers have their negative pre-departure tests, along with their completed passenger locator forms. Boarding will be denied to those who don’t.

This news comes in the wake of another new UK requirement that took effect November 30. All international arrivals, regardless of vaccination status, must take a PCR test on their second day in the country and self-isolate in their hotel rooms until receiving a negative result. That requirement remains in place.

The new requirements are viewed as temporary and will be reviewed in three weeks’ time to determine whether they remain necessary and proportionate to current pandemic conditions. The review date for the new testing requirement is December 20.

As part of the same UK government announcement, Nigeria has been added to the UK’s “red list,” after 21 cases of the Omicron variant found in England were linked to travel from that nation.