Amber list countries vaccinated Britons won't have to quarantine from this summer in full
PEOPLE in England will be able to travel more easily to amber list countries from July 19. English travellers will be permitted to travel to these nations for leisure.
Grant Shapps discusses ‘cautious approach’ to travel
Grant Shapps has announced the Government’s latest rules on foreign travel. People in England will be allowed to travel to countries on the amber list for leisure from July 19. This means that English tourists will be able to go on holiday to or see family and friends in France, Portugal, the US and more.
Most European countries are on the Government’s amber list.
From July 19, English people will be able to travel to amber nations for leisure.
Double vaccinated residents in England will be allowed to travel to these countries quarantine free.
This is a huge change from the current situation, where Britons must quarantine for 10 days on return to the UK from an amber list country.
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Children under 18 years of age will not have to self-isolate on return to England from an amber country either.
This means that children can travel with double-jabbed adults and adhere to the same rules as them when back at home in the UK.
However, Mr Shapps stressed that due to Britain’s devolved governments, rules in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are different to those in England.
Speaking from the Commons today, the transport secretary said: “I can confirm today that from the July 19, UK residents who are fully vaccinated through the UK vaccine rollout will no longer have to self-isolate when they return to England.
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“They’ll still be required to take a test three days before returning, the pre-departure test, demonstrating they're negative before they travel, and a PCR test on or before day two, but they will no longer be required to take a day eight test.
“In essence, this means that for fully vaccinated travellers the requirements for green and amber list countries are the same.
“To be clear, a full vaccination means 14 days have passed since your final dose of the vaccine, and it's also important to note that health matters are devolved, so decision-making and implementation may differ across the UK administrations and we’ll continue to work with the devolved administrations to ensure we achieve our shared objectives of safe, sustainable and robust return to international travel.”
Mr Shapps added: “I don't underestimate for a second just how difficult the last 16 months have been for those who have not been able to travel to see their families, and the tourism and for the aviation sector itself, of course, and no minister, let alone Transport Secretary, would want to ever curtail freedom and ask people not to travel.
“But protecting public health has rightly been and will continue to be our overriding priority of this Government, and that's why we introduced some of the toughest border measures in the world.
“But we are now, thanks to our brilliant vaccination programme, in a position where we can start to think about how we live with coronavirus while returning life to a sense of normality.”
The transport secretary continued: “Children under 18 returning from amber list countries will not have to isolate on their return nor take a day eight test.
“Children between the ages of five and 10 will only need to take a day two test - and, as before, children four and under will be exempt from all testing and isolation requirements.”
On proving vaccination status, Mr Shapps said: "More than 30 countries and territories are now recognising vaccine certification as part of entry requirements – either accepting a proof of vaccination letter or the NHS app itself, and we will continue to increase that number so the NHS app becomes the natural default.”
The transport secretary also said: “From July 19, we will remove the guidance that people should not travel to countries on the amber list. This means people will be able to travel for leisure, business and to see family in amber list countries.”
But Mr Shapps warned “an amber list country could still turn red”, meaning hotel quarantine would become a requirement.
Full list of countries on the amber list:
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
The Bahamas
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
China
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue
Côte d’Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
French Polynesia
Gabon
The Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece (including islands)
Greenland
Guadeloupe
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao
Madagascar
Malaysia
Mali
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Morocco
Myanmar
Nauru
Netherlands
New Caledonia
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
North Macedonia
Norway
The Occupied Palestinian Territories
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Poland
Portugal (including the Azores) (Madeira is on the green watchlist)
Réunion
Romania
Russia
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain (including the Canary Islands) (The Balearic islands are on the green watchlist)
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Maarten
St Martin and St Barthélemy
St Pierre and Miquelon
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Ukraine
United States (USA)
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Wallis and Futuna
Western Sahara
Yemen