England
Travel restrictions
From June 8th, 2020, individuals arriving in the UK must self-isolate for 14 days and may be contacted to verify compliance. New arrivals will be required to provide UK officials with contact and travel information upon arrival. Anyone failing to complete the information form or adhere to the new policy may be denied UK entry or be subject to fines. For complete details, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control
From July 10th, 2020, passengers arriving to England by air, land, or sea from a number of “travel corridor” countries do not need to self-isolate so long as they have only visited the listed countries in the past 14 days. Note that these rules apply to England only. For the list of designated travel corridor countries, visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors
As of July 10th 2020, passengers arriving to Wales by air, land, or sea from a number of “travel corridor” countries do not need to self-isolate so long as they have only visited the listed countries in the past 14 days. Note that these rules apply to Wales only. For the list of designated travel corridor countries, visit: https://gov.wales/written-statement-international-travel-regulations
Passengers arriving to Scotland by air, land, or sea from travel corridor countries do not need to self-isolate so long as they have only visited the listed countries in the past 14 days. Note that these rules apply to Scotland only.
For the list of designated travel corridor countries, visit: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-public-health-checks-at-borders/pages/exemptions/
Passenger locator forms are required in England even if you are arriving from a travel corridor country. You may be denied UK entry or fined £100 if you refuse to provide your contact details and £1,000 if you refuse to self-isolate, or you may face further action.
You may be denied UK entry (Wales) or fined £1,920 if you refuse to provide your contact details and £1,000 if you refuse to self-isolate, or you may face further action.
Beginning January 15th, all persons (with limited exemptions) arriving in the UK by ship, plane or train will have to take a test up to three days (72 hours) before departure and provide evidence of a negative result before they travel.
Measures taken by the government
On May 10th, UK Prime Minister Johnson addressed the public and announced a three-step plan to reopen society conditioned on the reproduction and infection rates of COVID-19.
In step three, no earlier than July and subject to conditions and further scientific advice, the UK government may re-open at least some of the hospitality industry and other public places, provided they are safe and enforce social distancing.
As of Monday, June 15th all travelers must wear face covering on public transport and on aircraft. Passengers using taxis and private hire vehicles should also use a face covering for the duration of their journey.
Many hotels began opening as of July 4th, providing they follow COVID-19 health and safety guidance. However, some hotels will remain closed into August or later.
On June 23rd, UK Prime Minister Johnson announced changes to lockdown measures that would apply from July 4th in England. Additional guidance can be found at the GOV.UK webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do.
The United Kingdom announced new restrictions on November 23rd, set to begin on December 2nd. Please see the following link for updated guidance on local and national restrictions and quarantine procedures: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-local-restrictions
Since December 2nd the UK is using a tier system to determine local restrictions:
Tier 1: Medium alert
Tier 2: High alert
Tier 3: Very High alert
Tier 4: Stay at Home
Starting December 2nd, the following restrictions apply across all tiers:
- Mandatory face covering in most indoor public settings, unless they have an exemption
- Follow the rules on meeting others safely
- Students should attend school or college as normal, unless they are self-isolating. Schools, universities, colleges and early years settings remain open in all tiers
- Everyone should walk or cycle where possible, plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes when travelling
- Each person must follow the gathering limits at their tier except for in specific settings and circumstances.
On January 4th, new restrictions and a national lockdown for the United Kingdom began.
Please see the link below information for updated guidance on local and national restrictions and quarantine procedures: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know
Emergency number (related to COVID-19) while visiting the country
In Wales call 111 (if available in your area) or 0845 46 47
Source:
US Embassy in the UK https://uk.usembassy.gov/covid-19-coronavirus-information/
Published on February 12th 2020 (checked on March 3rd 2021)
For more information please visit our COVID-19 Updates page at https://www.hiddentrails.com/article/covid19update.aspx