Originally Posted by HMG

Approach at the borders

109. Last month the Government announced its new system for international travel, underpinned by a commitment to see a return to unrestricted travel and to support recovery across all sectors. There are now no requirements on eligible vaccinated travellers apart from the need to complete a simplified Passenger Locator Form. Travellers who do not qualify as eligible vaccinated also need to take a pre-departure test and an arrival test on or before day 2, but no longer need to isolate or take a day 8 test.

110. The Government also committed to developing a contingency toolbox of options. The Government recognises that border measures have carried very high personal, economic, and international costs. The Government will only consider implementing new public health measures at the border in extreme circumstances where it is necessary to protect public health.

111. Contingency measures would only be used where they are proportionate to the threat faced by a COVID-19 variant and effective in slowing ingress to avert pressure on public services such as the NHS. There may be scenarios where border measures are not appropriate and will not form part of a contingency response. The approach will be underpinned by three important principles:
a. The bar for implementation of any measures is very high;
b. Any measure will be tailored and proportionate to the threat posed and will seek to minimise economic and social impacts; and
c. In the event any measures were deemed necessary they would be time limited and not be in place any longer than needed.

112. Given the current state of the pandemic and a move towards global travel volumes returning to normal, the infrastructure for hotel quarantine will be fully stood down from the end of March and the Government is developing options to increase compliance with home isolation in its place should quarantine measures need to be reintroduced. Previous global responses to variants of COVID-19 that targeted travel from specific countries may not always be appropriate given how quickly the virus can spread, and tailoring measures to the nature of the threat can improve their effectiveness and proportionality. As such, the Government will have in reserve a more agile toolbox tailored depending on the nature and source of the threat, and deployed only where that high bar is crossed. The default will be to first consider whether less stringent measures are appropriate so as to minimise the impact on general travel where possible.

113. The Government will set out the contingency approach and toolbox of measures in more detail ahead of Easter when reviewing The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability) (England) Regulations 2021. The Government will continue to work with industry on contingency planning.