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Public told to abandon summer holidays abroad
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Exclusive: Wembley could be used for vaccine drive
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Allison Pearson: We can’t let them cancel Freedom Day
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Exclusive: Plans to ease social distancing in ‘disarray’
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Philip Johnson: Direct your anger at lockdown obsessives
The confusion surrounding travel has continued to deepen as Government ministers appear at odds about what people should and shouldn’t be doing.
Much of the uncertainty is the interpretation of “amber-list” countries like Spain or France, where people have to quarantine at home for 10 days upon return to the UK.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart told Times Radio that “some people might think a holiday is essential. I can think of a quite a lot of people who do think that”, while Education minister Gillian Keegan said: “What we are saying is the amber list is not to go on holiday, not for pleasure travel at the moment.”
But those in the travel industry have criticised the doubtful messaging.
The founder of luxury tour company Red Savannah, George Morgan-Grenville, told Today: “If you’re fully vaccinated, and you have chosen to travel to an amber list country, you’ve got to take an antigen test before you return to the UK, you have to quarantine for 10 days, and you have to take two Covid tests. So what is the risk there? It’s almost negligible.”
Follow the latest updates below.
11:21 AM
Starmer: Messaging on travel ‘confusing and contradictory’
Sir Keir Starmer tells the Commons that it is “because of the messaging” that so many Britons are flying to amber list countries.
In response, Boris Johnson stresses that there are 43 countries on the red list.
He also says that the high vaccination rate in the UK is what is “enabling us” to ease these restrictions.
Sir Keir again calls the messaging on travel “confusing and contradictory” and asks why the Government doesn’t provide clarity.
11:13 AM
‘We are an island nation, we have the power to stop this’
The Labour leader asks how many people are now travelling to and from Britain to amber list countries, as airlines keep taking passengers to these nations despite the Government’s messaging.
He accuses the Prime Minister of “weakening international restrictions” by moving 170 countries to the amber list.
There has been a 95 per cent reduction in travel of any kind to and from this country in general, Mr Johnson replies, insisting the UK has “one of the strongest border regimes anywhere in the world”.
But urging him to take control of the borders, Sir Keir says: “We are an island nation, we have the power to stop this… The Government has lost control of the messaging.”
Mr Johnson says the Government is trying to move away from laws to guidance at this stage in the pandemic. He calls Labour’s coronavirus border position “hopelessly confused”.
11:09 AM
Amber list for travel is ‘very, very clear’, insists Johnson
Now Boris Johnson faces an inevitable grilling from the Labour leader on the confusion around the “amber list” for travel.
Mr Johnson insists the travel advice is clear and the border policy is rigorous. He warns travellers again: “If you travel to an amber list country for any emergency or extreme reason, when you come back you not only have to pay for all the tests but you have to self-isolate and we will invigilate”, with £10,000 fines for rule-evaders.
The Prime Minister says “it is very, very clear, you should not be going to an amber list country except for some extreme circumstances, such as the illness of a family member… you should not be going to an amber list country on holiday.”
11:06 AM
PMQs begins: vaccines proving effective against variants
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, asks the PM if he agrees the single biggest threat to the June 21 unlocking is the threat of new variants.
Boris Johnson agrees that is one of the threats, but says he has new promising data to give the Commons.
“We have increasing confidence that vaccines are effective against all variants, including the Indian variant,” he says.
10:52 AM
Ireland eyes full lifting of lockdown
The Irish government is hopeful of being able to reopen indoor restaurant dining and some mass events in early July as high vaccination levels pave the way for the full reopening of the economy, deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar has said .
“It is certainly our hope and intention to allow indoor dining to resume in July, hopefully in early July, and also some mass events as well,” Mr Varadkar told a parliamentary committee this morning.
Ireland has one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 infection in Europe but is among the most cautious on dropping restrictions, after an easing in December sparked a large wave of cases.
10:47 AM
Coming up: Boris Johnson faces PMQs grilling amid travel list confusion
In 15 minutes time, the Prime Minister will be facing the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer across the dispatch box in the Commons.
During this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Boris Johnson could be grilled on the “amber list” of countries, as confusion and mixed messaging from ministers throws holidaymakers’ plans into chaos.
Later today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock will also face questions at a Downing Street press conference.
Stay here for the latest.
10:42 AM
Recap: which list is your holiday destination on?
There is a lot of talk this morning about the European Union’s upcoming ‘safe list’, with all the potential summer holidays that it could open up for Britons.
But our hopes could be dashed again if EU leaders are spooked by the Indian variant’s foothold in Britain.
So here’s a reminder of where countries are on Britain’s own traffic-light system, and what the rules are:
10:33 AM
New: EU ambassadors open door to British tourists with Covid passports
EU ambassadors have backed plans to allow vaccinated UK holidaymakers to visit the bloc this summer – but the Indian variant could mean the reopening is delayed.
They recommended at a meeting on Wednesday that rules should be changed to allow non-essential visits into the EU by people who have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, a spokeswoman for the Portuguese presidency of the EU Council said.
The policy will need to be signed off by ministers of member states.
People in England are able to use an NHS app to display proof of their vaccination status. A separate decision on whether to add the UK and other countries to the EU’s “safe list” will be made on Friday.
Travellers from locations on the list are permitted to enter the bloc even if they are not vaccinated, but are generally required to show evidence of a recent negative test.
There are currently only eight countries on the list, including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Israel, though Portugal and Greece have broken ranks to already welcome Britons.
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Public told to abandon summer holidays abroad
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Is it legal, or sensible, to go on an ‘amber list’ holiday?
10:27 AM
Vaccine rollout to children faces backlash
The Government is facing a backlash over plans to extend the vaccine rollout to children, with some experts questioning the benefits of the proposed move, Camilla Turner reports.
Dozens of medics, doctors and scientists have written to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to express their “grave concern” over the proposals.
In a joint letter, they warned it is “irresponsible, unethical and unnecessary” to jab children and urged the medicines watchdog not to “repeat mistakes from history”.
Their intervention came as Matt Hancock announced that Britain had bought enough Pfizer vaccines to inoculate all children over the age of 12.
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Here’s more on this story
10:20 AM
WHO: Global cases start to fall but ‘storm still raging’ in virus hotspots
This week’s epidemiological report from the World Health Organization makes for slightly more optimistic reading, with new Covid cases and deaths continuing to drop in almost every region, Sarah Newey reports.
But both remain high globally – in the past week just over 4.8 million new infections and 86,000 fatalities were reported. Europe saw the largest fall in new cases, a 26 per cent drop, followed by the Eastern Mediterrean.
Yet it’s clear the pandemic is still raging. Deaths hovered at around the same rate in South East Asia and the Wester Pacific, while more than 2.3 million new infections were recorded in India – a 13 per cent drop compared to last week, but still an enormous figure.
Nepal is also in the midst of a surge, with an eight per cent increase in cases and a whopping 266 per cent increase in fatalities. Japan and Malaysia have seen a 21 per cent and 54 per cent rise in deaths respectively.
“While the storm of Covid-19 may be easing for some, it’s raging for others,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on the coronavirus.
“The threat of more transmissible and countermeasure-evading variants, uneven and inequitable vaccine roll out, increasing social mixing without [public health messaging] in place worries me, and can quickly bring back rough seas if we are not prepared… Don’t let your guard down.”
10:11 AM
Warning of ‘unrest’ in Bolton if local lockdown imposed
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been warned there could be “unrest” in Bolton if the Government brings in local lockdowns to contain the Indian variant.
David Greenhalgh, Conservative leader at Bolton Council, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve been there before and they don’t work – not in a dense conurbation like Greater Manchester.”
Asked if he had told Mr Hancock there would be civil unrest, he said: “I do think there is a danger of unrest. There is a great deal of resentment. Bolton was… we were disproportionately affected really since July last year.
“Even when our rates were coming down, we still remained in lockdown when other areas’ rates were higher than ours, so there was a build up of resentment.
“The people of Bolton have a great spirit and they come together when times are difficult.
“But this would be a very, very difficult situation to manage I believe – if we went into a lockdown that we have personal experience of as a town, which did not work.”
09:36 AM
Nearly three-fifths of all Covid vaccines administered in just three countries
Nearly three-fifths of all Covid vaccination doses have been administered in just three countries, according to an AFP tally.
More than 1.5 billion doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been injected into people’s arms around the world, six months after the vaccination drive started. By Tuesday at 1530 GMT at least 1,500,017,337 doses had been injected in 210 countries or territories, according to the tally based on official sources.
But three countries dominated the figures: China (421.9 million doses), the United States (274.4 million) and India (184.4 million).
In terms of population, Israel is leading the pack: nearly six Israelis out of 10 have already been completely vaccinated with two shots.
The United Kingdom follows, with 54 percent of its population having already received at least one dose, then Bahrain with 50 percent), the United States (48 percent), Chile (47 percent) and Uruguay (40 percent). In the 27-nation European Union more than 200 million doses have been administered to 32 percent of the population. Of the bloc’s biggest countries Germany has given one dose to 37 percent of the population, France to 31 percent, Italy to 32 percent and Spain 33 percent.
Eleven countries are not yet vaccinating. Six of them are in Africa: Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea and Tanzania. The others are in Oceania (Vanuatu and Kiribati), North Korea and Turkmenistan in Asia and Haiti in the Caribbean.
09:26 AM
Bolton Council leader: ‘Our cases are still rising’
David Greenhalgh, Conservative leader at Bolton Council, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was no sign yet that cases were coming under control, adding that “our cases are still rising”.
“I think that was, to be honest, expected,” he said.
“We are putting all the measures in that we can at the moment. We have community spread, there’s no doubt about that, and we’re holding back a variant that would appear – although the evidence is still being gathered – to be a little bit more transmissible, easily transmissible.
“The majority of our cases are in very much our younger age groups – primary school, secondary school and in their 20s.
“We still haven’t got an increase in hospitalisation and severe illness, which is hugely welcome, those figures still remain low. We’re doing everything we can, the Government has sent in surge vaccinations, surge testing … We’re doing everything we can, but I think the next two weeks we will still see our cases rising.”
09:15 AM
Local lockdowns ‘more effective if they cover wider areas’
Professor Neil Ferguson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that local lockdowns were “more effective if they cover wider areas”, adding that the tier system “to some extent worked, it slowed spread”.
He said if the variant was widespread and highly transmissible, then locking down hotspot areas “may work in those areas, but just allows the rest of the country to reach a high infection level – and we know what the consequences of that were last year.
“We’re in a different situation now we have high levels of vaccine coverage, so the real challenge for us as scientists and for the Government is to try and calculate – is that wall provided by vaccinations sufficient for us to keep the consequences of this Indian variant at a manageable level?”
He said there was not enough data to distinguish between the different vaccines on effectiveness in tackling variants, but said “there’s a good deal of confidence … that vaccines will protect against severe disease”.
08:59 AM
Matt Hancock to lead 5pm briefing tonight
The Health Secretary Matt Hancock is to lead a Downing Street Covid briefing at 5pm today.
08:56 AM
Poll | Should we be travelling to amber-list countries?
Have your say here:
08:37 AM
‘Green list poses less risk than amber, but nothing is risk-free’
Professor Neil Ferguson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that restrictions on travel depended on what was trying to be achieved.
“Clearly, if we want to stop any new variants coming in, then arguably the sort of strategies that Taiwan and New Zealand and Australia are adopting are what we need to implement here, but I’m not sure if the majority of the population would support that,” he said.
“I think we have a strategy at the moment of trying to reduce the risks, but not eliminate them.
“In terms of personal behaviour, I think the Government recommendations are clear. The green list countries pose less risk than the amber risk countries, but nothing is risk-free.
“People have to bear in mind this is not a panacea. I mean for instance, home quarantine.
“I think one thing the import of this Indian variant has shown us – everybody coming back from India had to home quarantine, had to test – is an imperfect way, it basically didn’t work. It’s an imperfect way of stopping viruses coming into the general community, but it probably does have some effect.”
08:27 AM
Prof Ferguson: Scrapping social distancing on June 21 ‘in the balance’
Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and a member of the Government’s Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling Group (SPI-M), told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the June 21 date for lifting legal limits on social contact was “very much in the balance”.
Asked if it would go ahead or need to be reconsidered, he said: “I think that’s actively being considered. I think it’s very much in the balance and the data collected in the next two to three weeks will determine that.”
He said it was not yet clear how much more transmissible the Indian variant is, but added: “Certainly, it is much easier to deal with 20pc, even 30pc (more transmissibility) than it would be 50pc or more. The challenge we have… is because of how it was introduced into the country.
“It was introduced from overseas, principally into people with Indian ethnicity, a higher chance of living in multi-generational households and often in quite deprived areas with high density housing, and so we’re trying to work out whether the rapid growth we’ve seen in areas such as Bolton is going to be typical of what we could expect elsewhere, or is really what is called a founder effect which is often seen in these circumstances.
“There’s a little bit of, I would say, glimmer of hope from the recent data that whilst this variant does still appear to have a significant growth advantage, the magnitude of that advantage seems to have dropped a little bit with the most recent data, so the curves are flattening a little, but it will take more time for us to be definitive about that.”
08:12 AM
Peter Bone calls George Eustice “George Useless” on live radio
The most eye-brow raising moment of Peter Bone’s appearance on the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme will be one he may want to forget.
Here is the slip from the senior Conservative MP.
Update your settings here to see it.
08:11 AM
Tory MP suggests one or two ministers ‘not up to speed’ on travel rules
Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough and Rushton, seemed to suggest one or two ministers should read the BBC’s website to get “up to speed” on the travel rules.
He told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme: “I think the truth of the matter is you should be only going on holiday to green countries, at the moment.
“And there are of course essential reasons why you might want to go to an amber country or red country but you have to face the consequences and when you come back of the quarantine or self isolation.
“So I think yes there was confusion in messaging but the Government’s website is really helpful, really detailed and very clear, and in fact the BBC, put a very clear guide up on their website as well.
“So I think while there might be one or two ministers, who, who weren’t quite up to speed, by having the policies right and…if you’re vaccinated, you know what is the risk of going abroad is.”
08:00 AM
‘What is the point of the amber list, you may as well make the amber list the red list’
George Morgan-Grenville, CEO and founder of luxury tour company Red Savannah, made a number of punchy points on BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme discussing travel.
Here are his best quotes:
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What is the point of the amber list, you may as well make the amber list the red list. What’s the point of having a passport, what’s the point of legalising travel again, only to say that you can’t travel. And if you analyse the green list – it’s lunacy it’s a joke list.
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There are always going to be reasons for travelling but I think what we have to do here is to remember that 95% of the over 50 in this country have not been vaccinated. And that cohort accounts for 99 percent of Covid deaths. So, right now, with the travel industry is facing a disaster, and no one really understand why it has to bear the brunt of so much confused and mixed messaging for ministers
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Let’s not forget, you know there are 10,000 lorries, every day, coming into this country through British ports, and those drivers are only required to take a lateral flow test. So the idea that people not going on holiday is going to shut out every virus is is nonsensical.
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We have to we have to change the narrative here. This is not about hedonism and frivolity, it’s about putting food on the table for one in 10 families. Not just in this country but across the world, whole communities are being destroyed, families are being torn apart lives are being ruined, and businesses are going bust.
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I think we have to accept that there’s no such thing as being able to achieve a Covid-free or risk-free society. But if you’re fully vaccinated, and you have chosen to travel to an amber list country, you’ve got to take an antigen test before you return to the UK, you have to quarantine for 10 days, and you have to take two PCR tests. So what is the risk there? It’s almost negligible.
07:46 AM
Fully vaccinated UK holiday makers may be given go ahead for EU travel
Fully vaccinated UK holidaymakers could be given the green light by EU ambassadors to visit the bloc this summer, but there is confusion over the Government’s policy on international travel.
The ambassadors are meeting on Wednesday to discuss easing restrictions on non-essential trips into the EU.
Portugal and Greece are among the countries that have already begun welcoming UK tourists, but an EU-wide move would boost the chances of a major summer getaway.
The most popular destination for UK holidaymakers, Spain, currently prohibits inbound leisure visits from outside the EU and Schengen Area, meaning UK holidaymakers are banned.
07:44 AM
Labour calls UK’s border a ‘sieve’ for variants
The UK’s border has been as secure as a “sieve” during the Covid-19 pandemic, the shadow health secretary said.
Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News on Wednesday: “Our shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds has long been calling on your programme and other programmes that we need a comprehensive border policy.
“Our borders have been about as secure as a sieve throughout this crisis and it’s why we are seeing these variants bounce at us.
“There’s probably going to be more of this as well, so we have got to work internationally to bring infection rates down and make sure the world is vaccinated.
“But we have also got to have secure borders and controls as well.”
07:41 AM
Green-list country may be expanded next month, minister suggests
Education minister Gillian Keegan has suggested the green list of countries where people can take overseas holidays may be expanded next month.
Ms Keegan said there would probably be an announcement “a week or two before” the next stage of the lifting of lockdown restrictions.
“As we get to the next stage of the unlocking – June 21 – I think people are hoping there are more countries on the green list but right now there are only 12 on the green list and they are the only ones you can go on holiday to,” she told LBC radio.
07:31 AM
Shadow health secretary would not travel to amber list country
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said he would not travel to a country on the Government’s amber list.
Speaking to Sky News, he said the Government’s messaging around international travel had been “confusing”.
He said: “I think people just want clarity. Because people want to do the right thing and there are people who will just want a holiday.”
Asked if he would go to a country on the amber list, he said: “No, no I wouldn’t.
“At the moment I’m planning on going on holiday to Devon or Cornwall or somewhere, if I do get a holiday.”
07:09 AM
‘Now is not the time to go to Spain’, says minister
“Now is not the time to go to Spain,” education minister Gillian Keegan has said.
Speaking to Times Radio, the MP for Chichester said those planning a holiday should not go to amber list countries.
“Amber list countries are there for a reason – they are there so that you can travel for business, you can travel for particular situations such as funerals or if there are some specific care issues in your family.”
She continued: “But holiday where you have a choice, we are advising you to go to the green list countries, and of course, there’s only 12 of those so most people, we anticipate, will stay at home.”
When asked if people thinking of travelling to Spain were “doing the wrong thing”, she replied: “I have a house in Spain, I lived in Spain for eight years, I’m desperate to go to Spain.
“But right now, it’s not the time to go to Spain.”
07:05 AM
Don’t go on holiday to ‘amber list’
A Government minister has urged people to be “sensible” and not travel to “amber list” countries for holidays.
Education minister Gillian Keegan said travel to amber list destinations was supposed to be for “special circumstances” such as business or funerals.
“What we are saying is the amber list is not to go on holiday, not for pleasure travel at the moment,” she told Sky News.
“It’s not in legislation, we haven’t legislated to ban people from going on holiday abroad. This is guidance.
“As with many of these things we have had throughout the pandemic this has been about relying on the great British public to be sensible and follow the guidance we have put in place and taking their own decisions really.
“But, no, we wouldn’t advise going on holiday to the amber list countries.”
06:47 AM
I want June 21 reopening to go ahead, says shadow health secretary
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said he “totally understands” why the Prime Minister cannot guarantee that Covid-19 restrictions will end on June 21.
But Mr Ashworth told Times Radio that Boris Johnson must take action now to ensure the UK is in the “best possible place” by that date.
He said: “I want it to go ahead. I totally understand why Boris Johnson can’t give us a cast-iron assurance.
“But what he can do is take action now to put us in the best possible place for June 21 to go ahead.
“I would say that involves four key things: Surge vaccination in those hotspot areas. Proper enhanced contact tracing on the ground, with the local councils given the resources to do it.
“Supporting premises to do proper ventilation and air filtration systems. We are not really doing that in the way other countries are doing.
“But finally, paying people decent sick pay and support so they can isolate themselves should they be ill. We are still not doing that.”
06:41 AM
Government should publish internal Covid review, urges Labour
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the Government should publish its internal review of the handling of the pandemic to “prepare” the UK for the “next stage”.
Mr Ashworth told Times Radio on Wednesday that publication of the document would ensure better scrutiny of the Government’s response to the Indian Covid-19 variant.
Asked why it should be published, he said: “We need to learn lessons and prepare for the next stage.
“This isn’t about scoring points or anything like that, it’s about being aware we have got this particular variant spreading in parts of the country.
“It seems to be spreading quickly and we need to make sure the Government is doing all it can to quickly contain the spread.
“If we have the lessons learned document published it will help all of us better scrutinise the Government’s plans and response to this variant.”
06:27 AM
Paris’ cafe terraces reopen for first time in six months
Parisians returned to their beloved cafe terraces and museums Wednesday after a six-month Covid-forced hiatus, a glimmer of normal life resuming but India grappled with a record daily number of coronavirus deaths.
As health workers administered the world’s 1.5 billionth Covid-19 vaccine dose, Europeans and Americans continued to climb out from under long months of restrictions.
In New York – an early virus epicentre – rules requiring masks and social distancing are also set to ease, although some residents remain cautious about a disease that has upended life in almost every corner of the globe.
Manhattan restaurant manager Juan Rosas plans to still require masks, even for vaccinated patrons. “I think it is too early,” he said. “I think they rushed the decision.”
In Paris, the terraces and rooftop gardens that define the city for many visitors have been booked out as outdoor dining returns across France, with a few lingering restrictions.
“Like a diesel engine, we’ll be warming up slowly,” bistro owner Stephanie Mathey told AFP.
The city’s museums, cinemas and theatres are also reopening ahead of a full-scale unlocking of the economy on June 30.
“We are glad to be able to welcome you again,” staff of the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, wrote on its website, where demand for tickets to a Renaissance sculpture show was brisk.
06:16 AM
Today’s front page
Here is your Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, May 19.
05:08 AM
Exclusive: Wembley Stadium could be used for vaccination drive
Football stadiums could be used to vaccinate over-18s in the areas hit hardest by the Indian Covid variant under plans being discussed by the NHS, The Telegraph understands.
On Tuesday, health officials were in talks about expanding mass vaccination using Wembley Stadium and Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge ground in London in a bid to stop the spread of the variant across the capital.
Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, has urged ministers to allow the rollout of vaccines to younger people. So far, the Government has resisted the calls, insisting its strategy of speeding up second doses for the over-50s is more effective.
However, a number of areas have found ways to target younger age groups, with London, Bedford and Bolton among areas offering jabs to multi-generational households including teenagers.
04:30 AM
Plans to ease social distancing in ‘disarray’
Plans for easing social distancing rules were said to be in “disarray” on Tuesday amid concerns that pubs and restaurants may still have to serve at limited capacity after June 21.
Government insiders told The Telegraph that the public may have to wait until June 14 – almost four weeks away – to hear what will change after announcements due next week were delayed.
Hospitality industry bosses now fear pubs and restaurants will be made to continue to follow the “one metre plus” rule, table service requirements and ban on standing at the bar into July.
Such a move could have a major financial impact on firms which, even with indoor dining open again, can only on average operate at just 60 per cent full capacity.
04:07 AM
Public told to holiday at home
The public have been told to abandon plans to go abroad this year by a health minister as the Government’s advice on holidays descended into chaos.
Lord Bethell – who is close to Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary – told peers that people should “stay in this country”.
He said: “Travelling is dangerous. That is not news to us or to the people who get on those planes in the first place. We do ask people, particularly as we go into the summer, travelling is not for this year – please stay in this country.”
The warning came despite the fact that the ban on travelling abroad has been lifted, with many families having booked breaks, and amid contradictory guidance from the Government.
03:32 AM
Travellers face hefty fees for private Covid tests
Buying holiday Covid tests from private clinics online can cost travellers up to 10 times more than buying through an airline.
As the rules around international travel ease, many countries still require British holidaymakers to submit a negative Covid test on arrival. Meanwhile, travellers looking to return home face paying privately for multiple tests, the costs of which can quickly add up.
Buying through an airline offering discounted tests could save travellers hundreds of pounds, with deals starting from £20 compared to up to £200 from private clinics.
The type and number of tests required to travel depends on the destination or the country from which a traveller is returning home.
02:44 AM
Today’s top stories
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The public have been told to abandon plans to go abroad this year by a health minister as the Government’s advice on holidays descended into chaos
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Football stadiums could be used to vaccinate over-18s in the areas hit hardest by the Indian Covid variant under plans being discussed by the NHS, The Telegraph understands
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Dominic Cummings has warned that the Government needs to allow “public scrutiny” of its vaccine strategy as he said “secrecy contributed greatly to the catastrophe” of the early months of the pandemic
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Plans for easing social distancing rules were said to be in “disarray” on Tuesday amid concerns that pubs and restaurants may still have to serve at limited capacity after June 21
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The Government is facing a backlash over plans to extend the vaccine rollout to children, with some experts questioning the benefits of the proposed move
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The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been cancelled for the second year in a row after organisers said the financial risks of staging the event were “too great”
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A member of Independent Sage who berated the Government on Tuesday for not delaying the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Britain is a social scientist turned race adviser who has no medical qualifications