Malta, Madeira, and the Balearic Islands have been added to the UK’s travel green list.
They are joined by a number of UK overseas territories, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica, Barbados and Grenada.
The change means holidaymakers will no longer have to self-isolate on their return to the UK from these areas.
But the additions – apart from Malta – will be on the “green watchlist”.
The “green list” rules state that:Before you travel to England you must, take a Covid test, book and pay for a day 2 Covid test in advance, and complete a passenger locator form. On arrival in England you must take that Covid test on or before day 2 after you arrive. Children aged 4 and under do not need to take this test and you do not need to quarantine unless the test result is positive.
So if conditions change in any of the countries, they are at risk of being moved to the amber or red list.
Israel has also moved to the watchlist.
The full list of destinations added to the green list as of 04:00 BST are:
- Europe: The Balearic Islands (which include Ibiza, Menorca, Majorca and Formentera), Malta and Madeira
- Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands
- Other British Overseas Territories: Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory and Pitcairn
Six destinations have been added to the government’s red list – the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Haiti, Mongolia, Tunisia and Uganda.
Britain hopes its COVID-19 vaccination programme will enable people to start flying abroad again as more of the public get two doses, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
“What we hope is that the vaccine rollout programme, the double jabs programme, will enable people to start flying and really give that (aviation) industry the prospect of a long-term sustainable recovery,” he told parliament.
Meanwhile, Malta is only allowing entry to UK travellers with NHS COVID vaccine certificates that were received by post, in a last-minute update by the local authorities.
But Health Minister Chris Fearne has said that the change is a temporary one and that the country’s digital certificates will be valid once Malta hooks up to an EU-wide validation system on Thursday.
Travellers from the UK must present proof of vaccination to enter Malta as of Wednesday, in a bid to curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
People vaccinated in the UK have two ways of proving their vaccination status: either through an NHS smartphone app, or else using a letter posted to them by the UK National Health Service.
Photo: Photo: Valletta Harbour, Malta. EC – Audiovisual Service
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