Green, Amber and Red lists updated: Government announces changes from 19th July

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• Mco says:

  14 Jul14 July 18:43

  Anyone know what rules my family have to follow if I get back from Majorca on the 28th July. We are both vaccinated with 2 under 12s.

  Quarantine till 31st then out?

  • Tracey says:

    14 Jul14 July 18:47

    Why 31st? If you are double vaccined plus 14 days you don’t need to isolate at all.

    • Mco says:

      14 Jul14 July 19:32

      Doesn’t the double vaccinated rule start 1st August?

      • TGLoyalty says:

        14 Jul14 July 19:33

        It starts on July 19th

  • Fede says:

    14 Jul14 July 18:49

    No I think the usual rule will apply on when you come back, it doesn’t matter if they change whilst you are quarantining ..

  • SammyJ says:

    14 Jul14 July 19:36

    If you arrive back in England after 19th July and are fully vax (or under 18) then there is no quarantine from amber. Just need a LFT before you fly home, and a Day 2 test.

    • Mco says:

      14 Jul14 July 20:02

      Thanks all.

    • ready to fly says:

      14 Jul14 July 20:31

      AND DAY 8 test…!

      • YC says:

        14 Jul14 July 20:42

        Not required Day 8 if ur fully vaccinated

  • Harry T says:

    14 Jul14 July 21:48

    I would really advise reading the gov UK pages first – it’s quite clear and easy to read. It also prevents you receiving incorrect advice!

    But anyway, if the Balearics stay Amber, you do not need to self isolate on returning if you are both vaccinated. You will need pre departure tests and a day 2 test but you do not need to isolate unless you test positive.

• Nick says:

  14 Jul14 July 18:46

  Went to a green list country, got home and had to isolate for ten days because someone on the plane tested positive, quarantine free travel does no exist.

  • Ian M says:

    14 Jul14 July 18:51

    For people living in the UK who comply with the rules I guess you’re right. But a lot of people use the loopholes to avoid quarantine

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Jul14 July 20:58

    After Aug 16th it will if fully vaccinated

  • Michael Jennings says:

    15 Jul15 July 13:20

    I went to an amber country (Spain). Came back, did my day 2 test (negative), did my day 5 test to release (negative), then on day 8 got a text from the NHS saying I had to isolate for two more days because someone I had been in contact with (presumably on the plane) had tested positive. I did at least get out for the weekend.

• Liam says:

  14 Jul14 July 19:24

  Shame to see the US still on the amber list (not that most people can travel to the US anyway). Vaccination rates in the US are pretty good, and I bet you the vaccination rate among Americans who’d want to travel across the Atlantic is higher still.

  • JP-MCO says:

    15 Jul15 July 07:53

    Agree. It sounds perverse to say it but I think the UK had to wait until the USA started to see a new wave of infection driven by Delta before anything will happen regarding reopening. That is now firmly underway as evidenced by the significant uptick in new cases that is occurring. Give it another couple of weeks and the USA will be seeing the same exponential growth that the UK is. Once that occurs the argument against reopening US-UK travel crumbles because we’re both in the same position. There will still be conversations regarding vaccination certification / AZ jab but I suspect they are easier to handle than the “we don’t want to open up to the UK to avoid importing the Delta variant”.

• MattB says:

  14 Jul14 July 19:32

  Thoughts on any movements within the next 3 weeks or is that it until the 4th or 5th August? I would think it would be an administrative nightmare to make changes more regularly?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Jul14 July 19:34

    That’s it

    • MattB says:

      14 Jul14 July 19:43

      Trying to calm my wife’s nerves as flying to Menorca on Saturday for 16 nights, and she is starting to panic that it will go red while we are out there. Both double vaxed so not worried about it being Amber.

      • Iain miller says:

        14 Jul14 July 21:32

        If it does, cut short your trip and fly to another EU amber country for 10 days.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          14 Jul14 July 21:48

          Or just fly home in the 3/4 days notice you have?

      • Anna says:

        14 Jul14 July 21:44

        Unlikely – Spain has one of the best vaccination rates in Europe and they are currently rushing to speed this up to help save the summer holiday season. They are generally very pro-vaccination, much more so than neighbouring France.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          14 Jul14 July 21:51

          Heard the french are clamouring now they’ve been told vaccine passports will apply for indoor dining/bars/clubs etc.

• Darren says:

  14 Jul14 July 20:45

  Rob, article still specifies a day 8 test on Amber post 19th July, believe this is dropping along with quarantine. (Departure tests and Day 8 remain)

  • Darren says:

    14 Jul14 July 20:46

    That should be departure and day 2 remain

• AvGeek says:

  14 Jul14 July 20:50

  Can anyone clarify whether the no-quarantine for double-vaxxed entering the uk from an amber country only applies to those vaccinated in the UK? Or the new rule applies to all double-vaccinated travellers traveling from amber countries?

  Thanks

  • Rob says:

    14 Jul14 July 22:11

    Only those vaccinated in the UK, yes. We don’t trust those dirty funny smelling foreign vaccines apparently.

    • Cora says:

      15 Jul15 July 07:31

      Rob, indeed, that rule is even more ludicrous when you think that Pfizer jabs given in the UK are made in the same factories as the Pfizer jabs given in Europe – in fact I understand they all come from there.
      Total pettiness just for the sake of it!

• Dave says:

  14 Jul14 July 21:00

  Does anyone know when this ‘task force’ is meant to report on the UK/US corridor?

  • Anna says:

    14 Jul14 July 21:45

    Reuters reported end of August or beginning of September, they are clearly in no rush to re-open to us.

• JanM says:

  14 Jul14 July 21:03

  I had really hoped that Germany would have made the green list. At a loss as to why it isn’t. My posting there ends and I need to go back to the UK. Might stop in Croatia or Madeira for ten days. Could do with a holiday!

  Also, the fact that the UK does not recognize vaccinations abroad but expects other governments to recognize those of its citizens is infuriating.

  • Anna says:

    14 Jul14 July 21:48

    Where have you seen that the UK government expects other governments to recognise its vaccination program, exactly?

    Germany is doing about 10% of the testing that the UK is doing which will have a bearing on its traffic light status.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      14 Jul14 July 21:54

      At the end of the day testing was meant for those with symptoms.

      The U.K. has quite frankly gone bonkers with its testing regime. The WHO doesn’t even recommend that just a positive PCR test is in itself should be used as indication that someone as has C19.

    • JanM says:

      14 Jul14 July 22:15

      Well, it is rather implicit in the whole traffic light system. UK travellers can’t go anywhere without other countries recognizing its vaccination certificates…

      Incidentally the infection rate in Germany is currently 9 per 100,000. The UK’s stands at 493. There is a reason why the UK is testing a lot more!

      • Anna says:

        14 Jul14 July 22:28

        It’s the positively rate which gives the relevant figure, and these are very similar. Of course Germany is going to have a lower infection rate if they are doing less testing!
        You’re making no sense at all about the vaccinations, it’s entirely up to individual countries whether they recognise the U.K. vaccines or not. The traffic light system purely relates to requirements for returning to the U.K., it puts no obligation whatsoever on the country one is returning from.

      • Matt says:

        14 Jul14 July 23:14

        Spain is allowing unvaccinated tourists in, as us Greece. And there’s no doubt more. I think you’re confusing the traffic light system for re-entry to the UK with the rules for entry into other individual countries but there’s no correlation between the two

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