LONDON — Fully vaccinated travelers from France like other European countries and the United States will no longer need to quarantine upon arrival in England as the United Kingdom continues to open up international travel. "The step aligns France with the rest of the amber list now that the proportion of beta variant cases has fallen, where those who are fully vaccinated with a vaccine authorized and administered in the UK, US or Europe do not need to quarantine when arriving in England," the government said in a press statement. As part of the new measure, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway have been added to the government's green list for travel while India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have moved from the red to the amber list. Travelers from the amber list of countries take a COVID-19 test 3 days before their departure for England. They must book and pay for COVID-19 tests to be taken after arrival in England and complete a passenger locator form. On arrival in England, they must quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days and take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8. All changes announced on Wednesday will come into effect at 4 a.m. local time on Sunday (Aug. 8). Commenting on the move, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "We are committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we've made through our successful vaccination program, helping connect families, friends and businesses around the world." "While we must continue to be cautious, today's changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public." UK Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: "As we learn to live with this virus, we are continuing to take steps to safely reopen international travel based on the latest data and expert public health advice. "The vaccines have already prevented around 60,000 deaths and 22 million infections in England and, with over 7 in 10 adults in the UK now double-jabbed, we are building a wall of defense against the disease." All classification changes have been decided by ministers, informed by the latest data and analysis by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) and wider public health considerations, to help the public understand the risks to public health of traveling to different destinations, according to the statement. All measures announced on Wednesday are designed to give travelers and the travel sector more certainty, will be kept under review, and further action may be taken to protect public health, the statement added.
