Skip to main content

Pre-departure tests 'likely to be dropped this week'

Government
Will Payne
4 January 2022

Pre-departure Covid-19 travel tests could be shelved as ministers prepare to review Plan B measures this week, according to reports in the national press.

The requirement for travellers to take a PCR test within two days of arriving in England is set to remain

The curbs were rapidly reintroduced in December in a bid to slow the reach of the Omicron variant to the UK after the strain was first identified in southern Africa.

But, according to The Times, some Conservative MPs are now reportedly arguing the testing restraint is "effectively pointless" because Omicron is now the dominant variant in the UK.

"Pre-departure tests were brought in to try to slow the spread of Omicron and stop it coming into the UK," a source reportedly told the paper.