BBC News 18 September 2021
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| Turkey, Pakistan, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya are all being removed from Scotland's red list |
The international travel traffic light system is being simplified in Scotland - but rigorous testing requirements could remain for the time being.
The green and amber classifications will merge, and eight countries including Turkey and Egypt will be taken off the red list.
But Scottish ministers say they have "concerns" about relaxing the testing rules, as is planned in England.
The Scottish government set out its position after UK government transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced a change in international travel rules.
In England, PCR tests will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travellers returning to the country. People who have had both jabs will also not need to take a pre-departure test before leaving any country not on the red list.
National clinical director Prof Jason Leitch said Scotland would also adopt the new traffic light system and remove some countries from the red list.
However, he said the Scottish government was worried about making changes to the testing regime.
He told Radio Scotland's Drivetime: "What we're going to do about testing is that we're going to take a little bit more time. We're a little bit more concerned about that, that's why we're taking a little bit more time.
"That feels like quite a big step at this stage in the pandemic for Scotland."
Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Matheson added: "We have concerns that the UK government's proposals to remove the requirement for a pre-departure test for some travellers will weaken our ability to protect the public health of Scotland's communities.
"While we want to maintain a four nations approach to these matters, we need to consider urgently their implications."
The Scottish government said its current amber-level restrictions will become the default for travellers from non-red countries, with eligible fully-vaccinated travellers able to benefit from quarantine-free travel.
Eight countries will be removed from the red list - Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey - from next Wednesday.
The number of countries recognised in the eligible vaccinated traveller policy is being expanded to include Canada, Australia, Israel, and New Zealand from 4 October.
'No justification'
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport criticised the Scottish government's decision to "diverge yet again and further curtail Scotland's aviation and travel industries in their recovery".
He said: "We are now the most restrictive country in Europe yet there is no justification or health benefit to retaining testing measures, something clinical professionals and experts have themselves said.
"This is great news for airports in Manchester and Newcastle - passengers will now travel there to avoid expensive tests and save around £100 per person, taking money out of Scotland's economy and threatening our airline capacity."
Genomic testing
As part of its announcement, the UK government said that from October, it would be able to replace the day two PCR test for travellers returning to England with a cheaper, rapid lateral flow test.
But Prof Leitch said said one issue with this is that lateral flow testing won't allow genomic analysis which could detect new variants.
He said: "You need to be able to genomically test a PCR test to know if you've got a new variant. That's one of the reasons why we might keep it."
Eleanor Gaunt, a virologist at Edinburgh University, told BBC Scotland's The Seven that lateral flow tests would only pick up 70% of the positive cases that PCR tests do.
She said: "It's more important that Scotland keeps PCR testing because then we'll have a litmus test for what's happening in the rest of the UK as well."
