New Rules for U.K. Travel Officially Come Into Effect

The new rules for inbound travel to the United Kingdom have officially gone live.

Because of concerns over the Omicron variant, all travelers aged 12-years and older coming into the U.K will have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test taken within 2 days of departure of their final flight into the U.K.

At the same time, all vaccinated travelers must pre-book a post-arrival test no more than two days after arrival and self-isolate until they receive a negative test. All unvaccinated travelers must do the same along with an additional test on day 8 and a 10-day isolation period instead of two.

The requirements are in place regardless of vaccination status or citizenship.

The rules are largely seen as one of the only tools that the U.K. has to slow the spread of Omicron, which already total above 330 as of Tuesday according to Britain’s Health Minister Sajid Javid. Javid, who spoke to the British Parliament this week, said that none of the cases are linked to international travel so "we can conclude there is now community transmission across multiple regions of England." 

The United Kingdom is currently in the midst of an uptick in COVID-19 cases that have been happening since before Omicron was named. According to Worldometers, daily new cases have reached 45,000 as of Monday after shrinking to less than 2,000 last May. The U.K has been on an uptrend since that late spring low.