England scraps pre-departure PCR tests for travellers

Fully vaccinated travellers heading to England will no longer have to take a COVID-19 test before they travel.

Confirming the decision, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said travellers will instead take a rapid lateral flow test rather than a PCR test once they arrive.

"In England, from 4:00 am on Friday, we will be scrapping a pre-departure test which discourages many from travelling for fear of being trapped overseas and incurring significant extra expense," he told lawmakers.

"We will also be lifting the requirement to self isolate on arrival until receipt of a negative PCR," he said, adding that arrivals would instead need to do a rapid lateral flow test, and then only take a PCR if the lateral flow was positive. 

"Anyone who receives a positive result on their lateral flow test must self-isolate immediately and order a NHS PCR test from gov.uk," the UK government guideline added.

Meanwhile, unvaccinated travellers must take PCR tests on day two and day eight after arriving, and self-isolate for 10 days.