UK could ditch traffic light system by October
The UK’s Covid-19 travel traffic light system, widely criticised by the travel industry, might be scrapped within months
The government looks set to replace the traffic light system with one that would allow vaccinated travellers to go to countries with similar levels of vaccination as the UK. It is thought the overhaul will happen as early as 1 October.
However, the red list of countries, which the Government says should not be visited and from which arrivals must enter a government-approved quarantine facility, will remain.
Removing the distress of travel
Commenting on the reports, Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “The simplest system, as we’ve been advocating and which the government is currently considering, is for countries to either be red or green, but with fewer reds.
“This works well already for fully-jabbed US citizens travelling abroad who have plenty of freedom; and would remove much of the distress of travel caused by worrying about frequent colour zone changes while in a destination. Only by simplifying in this way will travel be able to properly recover.”
The decision comes as the UK Office for National Statistics found that 23 per cent of UK travellers from amber countries did not quarantine at home for 10 days or failed to complete PCR tests on days two and eight.