UK TRAVEL - EXPECT HASSLES AND DELAYS, JOHNSON WARNS

 Cyprus Mail 21 June 2021 - by Reuters News Service

Heathrow Airport

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that travellers would face hassle and delays this year if they sought to go abroad because the priority would be keeping the country safe from the coronavirus.

“I want to stress that this is going to be, whatever happens, a difficult year for travel: there will be hassle, there will be delays, I’m afraid, because the priority has got to be to keep the country safe and to stop the virus coming back in,” Johnson said.

Asked if the government was looking at easing the rules for those who have been double-vaccinated, Johnson said: “We’re looking at it but I want to stress that the emphasis is going to be on making sure that we can protect the country from the virus coming back in.”

Britain is piloting a plan to ditch the self-isolation requirement for people who have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine if they are exposed to someone with the virus, health minister Matt Hancock said on Monday.

“We are piloting that approach that if you’ve had two jabs, instead of having to isolate if you’re a contact, then you have a testing regime,” Hancock told BBC News.  “We’re piloting that now to check that that will be effective. It is something that we’re working on, but we’re not ready to be able to take that step yet.”