Quarantine and testing if you've been in an amber list country
What to do before and after you arrive in England if you’ve been in an amber list country in the 10 days before you arrive.
Changes to international travel rules for amber list countries
From 4am Monday 19 July you will not need to quarantine on arrival in England or take a day 8 COVID-19 test, as long as you:
- have been fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme
- have not been in a red list country in the 10 days before you arrive in England
Fully vaccinated means that you have had your final dose of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before the date you arrive in England.
You will need to:
- declare that you have been fully vaccinated on your passenger locator form
- show proof of your vaccination status to your carrier (ferry, airline or train) when you travel
Read about how you can use the NHS COVID Pass to show proof of your COVID-19 vaccination status.
Children under the age of 18, who are returning to the UK, and people taking part in formally approved COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials will also be exempt from requirements to quarantine and take the day 8 test.
If you’re not fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme, you will have to quarantine on arrival and take both the day 2 and day 8 tests.
If you arrive in England before 4am, Monday 19 July you must follow the rules in this guide, even if you’ve been fully vaccinated.
You should follow different guidance if you’ve been in a red list or green list country.
Before you travel to England
Find out what to do if:
If you arrive in England without proof you tested negative for COVID-19 in the 72 hours before departure, you could be fined £500.
How to book your day 2 and day 8 travel tests
You’ll need to order your day 2 and day 8 travel tests from a private provider in the UK.
You must book and pay for these tests before you travel to England and enter the booking reference number on your passenger locator form.
See ‘Taking your day 2 and day 8 tests’ below for more information on these tests.
How long you need to quarantine
When you arrive in England, you must travel directly to the place you’re staying and not leave until 10 days have passed.
The quarantine period is continuous from the day you arrive in England, and lasts for the next 10 full days after the day you arrived until 11:59pm on day 10. This period is necessary because it can take up to 10 days for COVID-19 symptoms to appear.
To count the days:
- the day you arrive in England is day 0
- the day after you arrive is day 1, and so on
If you’re travelling to England for less than 10 days
If you’re travelling to England for less than 10 days, you will need to quarantine for the whole of your stay.
You must still book your day 2 and day 8 travel tests, even if you will no longer be in England on the dates of the tests.
You only need to take the tests if you’re still in the country on those dates.
Test to Release
You can end your quarantine early through the Test to Release scheme – you’ll find details below in the ‘Ending quarantine’ section.
Testing and quarantine rules for children
Children aged 4 and under do not need to take the day 2 or day 8 test.
Children of all ages need to quarantine at home or in the place they’re staying for 10 full days (the day of arrival in England is day 0).
How to travel to the place where you’re quarantining
When you arrive in England, go straight to the place you’re staying to quarantine. Only use public transport if you have no other option, and make sure you follow safer travel guidance for passengers.
If you have or develop COVID-19 symptoms
If you have COVID-19 symptoms, it’s important that you do not travel by public transport.
If you develop COVID-19 symptoms when you’re travelling to England, you should tell one of the crew on your plane, boat, train or bus. They’ll let staff in the airport, port or station know, so they can tell you what you should do next when you arrive.
Long journeys to your quarantine accommodation
If you have a long journey within the UK to arrive at the place where you’ll be quarantining, you may be able to stop overnight in accommodation where you can quarantine yourself from others before continuing your journey.
You must check that the overnight stay is permitted under the national restrictions. You must quarantine and provide the address of your overnight stop on your passenger locator form in addition to your declared accommodation address.
What you can and cannot do in quarantine
You must quarantine at the address you provided on the passenger locator form. This can include staying:
- in your own home
- with friends or family
- in a standard hotel or other temporary accommodation
Amber list arrivals cannot quarantine in a managed quarantine hotel – these are for red list arrivals only.
You must quarantine in one place for the full quarantine period, where you can have food and other necessities delivered.
Quarantining safely
As soon as you arrive at your place of quarantine you should, as far as possible, avoid contact with other people in the place where you’re quarantining to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
You should stay in a well ventilated room with an outside window that can be opened, separate from other people in your home.
If you’re staying in a hotel or guest house, you must stay away from others who did not travel with you. You must not use shared areas such as bars, restaurants, health clubs and sports facilities.
Stay 2 metres apart from other people staying there at all times.
Visitors
You cannot have visitors, including friends and family, unless they’re providing:
- emergency assistance
- care or assistance, including personal care
- medical assistance
- veterinary services
- certain critical public services
Going out
Unless you’re at risk of harm, you cannot leave the premises where you’re in quarantine. You must only exercise inside the place where you’re quarantining or in the garden. You cannot leave the place where you’re quarantining to walk your dog. You will need to ask friends or relatives to help you with this.
If you’re at risk of harm
If you’re at risk of harm (for example in cases of domestic abuse), you can leave the place where you’re quarantining.
Shopping
You must not go shopping. If you need help buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, you should ask friends or relatives or order a delivery or ask for help from NHS Volunteer Responders.
Getting or posting your tests
Where your testing provider conducts the day 2 and day 8 tests at a test site you can leave the house for your test. Where your tests are delivered and self-administered, if there is no one in your household or bubble who can post the test for processing, you can leave the premises to post your test.
If you have to leave the premises, you should follow safer travel guidance and avoid public transport if possible.
Exceptional circumstances
You can leave your accommodation in certain exceptional circumstances. This includes needing to:
- get basic urgent necessities like food and medicines where you cannot arrange for these to be delivered
- travel to a COVID-19 testing site
- access critical public services including social services and services provided to victims (such as victims of crime)
- move to a different place for quarantine where you can no longer remain where you are
There may be other exceptional circumstances that allow you to leave your place of quarantine.
You could get advice from a medical or other professional to help decide whether your circumstances are exceptional and require you to leave your place of quarantine.
Even if you have an exception, you must continue to follow the general restrictions that apply.
What to do if you get COVID-19 symptoms
You should order a test if you develop at least one of these 3 COVID-19 symptoms at any point:
- a high temperature
- a new, continuous cough
- you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste or it’s changed
Rules for the people you’re staying with
The people you’re staying with do not need to quarantine, unless:
- they travelled with you
- you or someone in the place where you’re staying develop symptoms of COVID-19
- you get a positive test result for your day 2 or day 8 test
If any of these things apply, your household must quarantine with you, following the same rules and for the same length of time as you.
Taking your day 2 and day 8 travel tests
You must take your 2 COVID-19 travel tests (booked before you arrive in England):
- on or before day 2 for variant surveillance
- on or after day 8 to check that you do not have COVID-19
If you get a positive result from your day 2 test, you do not need to take a test on day 8.
The day you arrive in England is day 0. The day after you arrive is day 1, and so on.
If you do not take the day 2 and day 8 tests, you may face a penalty of up to £2,000. You do not need to take your second test if you receive a positive result to your first test.
What happens if you test positive
If you test positive for either the day 2 or day 8 test, you must quarantine for a further 10 days from the day after you took the test. You will be given advice when you get your test results.
Your household will need to quarantine with you immediately and continue for 10 days, with the day of the test counting as day 0.
If you have a variant of concern
If your day 2 test shows that you have a variant of COVID-19 known as a ‘variant of concern’, you will get a further call and your contacts will be asked to be tested.
Ending quarantine
If you’ve quarantined for 10 full days (where day 0 is the day you took the test or had symptoms) and received a negative result to both your day 2 and day 8 tests, and you are well, you may leave the place where you’re quarantining.
Ending quarantine early using Test to Release
Under the Test to Release scheme you can choose to pay for a private COVID-19 test on day 5. If the result is negative (and the result of your day 2 test was negative or inconclusive), you can end your quarantine.
You do not have to do this – it’s a voluntary test.
You must still book and take your mandatory day 2 and day 8 travel tests, even if your Test to Release result is negative.
Find out more about Test to Release, including a link to providers offering this test.
Checks to make sure you’re following quarantine rules
While you quarantine, NHS Test and Trace will contact you daily to confirm you’re following quarantine rules. You may also be visited by staff carrying out in-person checks on behalf of Test and Trace to make sure you’re complying with your legal duty to quarantine. Read more about the checks carried out to make sure you’re following quarantine rules.
If you break the quarantine rules, you may face a penalty of up to £10,000.
Support to help you quarantine
Quarantining may be difficult, frustrating or lonely. NHS Volunteer Responders are available if:
- you need help collecting shopping or medication
- you’d like a friendly chat
Call 0808 196 3646 (8am to 8pm) to arrange support. You can arrange one-off support, or schedule more regular help while you’re quarantining.
You can also get help looking after your mental health.
Changing the place where you’re quarantining
You are not allowed to change the place where you’re quarantining except in very limited circumstances, including where:
- a legal obligation requires you to change address, such as when you’re a child whose parents live separately, and you need to move between homes as part of a shared custody agreement
- it’s necessary and permissible for you to stay overnight at accommodation before travelling to the place where you will be quarantining for the remaining period
If this happens, you must provide full details of each address where you will quarantine on the passenger locator form. If, in exceptional circumstances, you cannot remain where you’re staying, you can move to a new place to quarantine and you must complete a new passenger locator form as soon as possible.
Circumstances not covered by this guidance
If you’re intending to travel to the UK in the next 7 days and facing a set of circumstances that are not covered by this guidance, email your enquiry to dhsctesttrace.customerfeedbackteam@nhs.net.
Make sure you include your date of travel.
Job exemptions
Some jobs exempt you from needing to quarantine and/or take a test. See the list of jobs that are exempt, and what the exemption covers.
Last updated 14 July 2021
