(2min read) From 15 February 2021 new enforcement measures will be introduced as part of the government’s strategy to help protect against new types of COVID-19 coming into the country. These measures will affect traveler’s travelling to England from a country on the banned travel list (also known as the “Red List”)– subject to change.

Further details of the new enforcement measures state that you cannot travel to the UK if in the last ten days, you have visited or passed through a country on the travel ban list, unless you are a British national, an Irish national or anyone with a UK residence visa. Unless exempt, permitted arrivals from the UK travel ban list are now required to: 

• take a COVID-19 test and get a negative result during the three days before travel.  
• book and purchase a quarantine package at a price of GBP 1750 for one adult in one room, which will include: a managed quarantine hotel, quarantine transport and travel test package for COVID-19 tests on day two and day eight of quarantine. Quarantine hotels are only available at selected ports of entry: Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, London City Airport, Birmingham Airport and Farnborough Airfield. 
• complete a passenger locator form with details of where you will quarantine when you arrive. You must provide a quarantine package booking reference number to complete your passenger locator form. 

It is not possible to use the ‘Test to Release Scheme’ if you have been in or through a country on the banned travel list in the ten days before you arrive in England. 

Travelling to England from a country that is not on the travel ban list. 

From 15 February 2021 onwards, if you can enter England from outside the Common Travel Area – you must prior to travelling: 

• take a COVID-19 test and get a negative result during the three days before travel: and 
• book and pay for a travel test package at a price of GBP 210 which will include COVID-19 tests to be taken on or before day two and on or after day eight of quarantine; and 
• complete a passenger locator form with details of where you will home quarantine on arrival and the travel test package booking reference number. 

It is possible to stop quarantining early by booking a test through the ‘Test to Release Scheme’ on the fifth full day of quarantine, however it would still be necessary to take a test on or before day two for variant surveillance and on or after day eight, in order to check for COVID-19. If the five-day test is positive, it would be necessary to self-isolate for another ten days starting from of the last test, or from when symptoms started if that was earlier. 

Passengers providing false or deliberately misleading information about the countries they have visited in the ten days before arriving in the UK when filling out a passenger locator form could face fines of up to GBP 10,000 or imprisonment of up to ten years or both. Those breaking the quarantine rules also face a penalty of up to GBP 10,000. 

You should not leave quarantine until you have received a negative result from your day eight test and quarantined for ten days. If you do not take the tests, you could face a penalty of up to GBP 2,000. 

With the Horus-I app, you can have peace of mind as you go about your daily activities, as well as providing added reassurance. Our app aims to help education establishments to resolve the travel challenges surrounding the safety of their students and staff, helping them mitigate risk, provide live time information and assist in an emergency.

Download the Horus-I app from either the App Store or Android Play Store depending on your device.

Access to the app is granted via the Horus Control Centre or by the reseller who will issue the users login credentials.

Contact the team at info@horus-global.co.uk to discuss how the Horus-I app can improve your travel security.