Fully-vaccinated travellers from the United States and the European Union (EU), with the exception of France, will now be able to travel to UK without needing to quarantine on their arrival.
The new regulation will come into effect from 2 August.
"We're helping reunite people living in the US and European countries with their family and friends in the UK From 2nd August at 4am people from these countries will be able to come to the England from an amber country without having to quarantine if they're fully vaxxed," UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced in a tweet on Wednesday, 28 July.
The newly-introduced relaxation in the travel restrictions can only be availed by travellers coming from the 'amber list' of countries who have received both doses of a European Medicines Agency (EMA) or Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)-approved vaccine.
While the visitors will no longer have to self-isolate for a period of 10 days as mandated by the previous guideline, they would still be required to present a negative COVID test before their arrival, and take another RT-PCR test on the second day after they reach.
As per the older guideline, only people who have received their COVID vaccine in England can skip quarantine upon their arrival from the 'amber list' of countries, which comprises of the US and most European nations.
Separate travel regulations will be applicable for travellers from France, where the beta COVID-19 variant is currently prevalent.
India remains on the red list under the international traffic system, which bans Indian travellers and mandates a 10-day hotel quarantine for British residents upon their arrival from India. The status is expected to be reviewed next week, news agency PTI reported.
(With inputs from PTI)
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