Covid international travel testing should be improved, not abandoned, says adviser

File photo dated 08/06/20 of a Eurowings plane landing at Heathrow airport in London. Air travel to the UK continues to be severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, new figures show. Just 1.4 million airline passengers arrived in the country last month, according to Home Office data. Issue date: Thursday August 26, 2021.
File photo dated 08/06/20 of a Eurowings plane landing at Heathrow airport in London. Air travel to the UK continues to be severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, new figures show. Just 1.4 million airline passengers arrived in the country last month, according to Home Office data. Issue date: Thursday August 26, 2021.
Steve Parsons
Charlie Bayliss

By Charlie Bayliss


Published: 19/09/2021

- 17:25

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:25

From the end of October, international travellers will also be able to replace the day two PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow test

Government ministers have been warned against "abandoning" the Covid testing system for international travel, saying planned relaxations could increase the risk of importing infections and new variants.

Professor Stephen Reicher, a scientist advising the government, said officials could have improved the system which saw “absurd rates” charged for PCR tests, by doing such testing through the NHS.


The traffic light system in England is to be replaced from October 4 by a single, reduced, “red list” of destinations, and those who are fully vaccinated will no longer need a pre-departure test before returning from non-red list destinations.

From the end of October, they will also be able to replace the day two PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow test.

Prof Reicher, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours, which feeds into the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said the system around PCR tests for travellers has been “dysfunctional” with “all the different companies charging absurd rates and not providing a service”.

He said the Government has responded to this “not by improving the system but by abandoning it entirely”, and added that, domestically, there remains “huge uncertainty” about the effect on virus cases of the return of schools, universities, workplaces and people spending more time indoors in the autumn weather.

On travel, he said: “I think it would have been far preferable to keep PCR tests but to improve the system and to do them through the NHS.

“I think it (the relaxation) is increasing risk. I think it does limit, in fact it stops our ability to trace different variants, and increases the probability of infected people coming into the country.

Holidaymakers face new travel rules from October 4.
Holidaymakers face new travel rules from October 4.
Kirsty O'Connor

“I think it has increased the risk, quite frankly, and I think we should have improved the system rather than by and large abandoning it.”

Lawrence Young, professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, said: “Letting our guard down runs the risk of bringing a new variant into the country, such as the Mu variant first identified in Colombia, which could reduce the effectiveness of current vaccines.”

Another scientist said while easing the rules will “inevitably increase the risk” of infections, high rates in the UK mean travellers could be as likely to catch Covid on a trip to Torquay as one to Turkey.

Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said: “Given the fact that community transmission within the UK is still running at a high level, it seems churlish to put high barriers in the way of international travel when the risks of catching Covid at home are relatively high.”

Some 2.2 million passengers travelled through the west London airport in August, up from 1.5 million in July, and the highest monthly passenger total of the coronavirus pandemic. Issue date: Monday September 13, 2021.
Some 2.2 million passengers travelled through the west London airport in August, up from 1.5 million in July, and the highest monthly passenger total of the coronavirus pandemic. Issue date: Monday September 13, 2021.
Steve Parsons

The Scottish Government has said it will drop the traffic light system but will not follow England when it comes to testing requirements and PCR tests will still be required. The Welsh Government said it will consider the UK Government’s proposed changes, but health minister Eluned Morgan has warned they could “weaken the line of defence on importing infection”.

In Northern Ireland, the traffic light system will change from October 4, with a single “red list” of destinations, while proposed changes to pre-departure and post-arrival testing will be discussed by Stormont ministers next week.

The latest Government figures showed there were another 29,612 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK as of Sunday, and a further 56 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the UK total to 135,203.

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