The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed to follow England’s new pre-departure testing measures, which will be reintroduced from December 7 DESPITE the UK government previously assuring travellers it would not be.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had only last week said he was ruling out the re-introduction of pre-departure testing for arrivals into the UK saying he did not want to “kill off the travel sector without knowing that you need to”.
He also urged families to book holidays overseas as long as they have insurance and that so-called vaccine passports will become the “norm for travel”.
But all that changed over the weekend, as the UK government suddenly announced that they would be re-introducing pre-departure testing. As of 4am on Tuesday 7 December, anyone arriving into Northern Ireland from abroad will be required to take a pre-departure Covid test. This applies to all travellers aged 12 years old and over, including those who are fully vaccinated.
International travellers will have to provide a negative pre-departure PCR or LFD test taken 48 hours before travelling, in addition to a negative PCR test on or before day two after arrival.
The measure is said to be “temporary” and will be “reviewed prior to 20 December”, however after a string of broken promises, both holidaymakers and the travel sector may find that hard to believe.
ABTA has called the re-introduction of pre-departure testing “a huge blow to travellers and an already devastated travel industry and called on the government to “step up and save jobs”.
“The re-introduction of pre-departure tests will be a huge blow to travellers and an already devastated travel industry, which has been the hardest hit sector throughout the crisis and which is now fast approaching the key booking season for next summer,” said an ABTA spokesperson.
“While we have always been clear that public health must be the priority at this time, the Government must now step up to save jobs and businesses. The industry needs financial support, which recognises these measures will significantly weaken demand and the Chancellor must now consider the reintroduction of furlough for travel industry to avoid further job losses.
“Travellers must also be supported with measures taken to offset the cost of these additional tests by reducing the cost of PCR testing – including a price cap and the removal of VAT. It’s vitally important this decision is reversed as quickly as possible, in line with scientific and medical advice, as it is simply not possible for the travel industry to recover properly while this huge barrier to consumer confidence is in place.”
In additional news, Nigeria has now also been added to the red list for international travel from 4am today (Monday 6 December), meaning all travellers returning to Northern Ireland from Nigeria will be required to enter hotel quarantine upon arrival and isolate for 10 days. Travellers that have arrived from Nigeria in the last 10 days are required to self-isolate, along with other members of the household, and take a PCR test on day 2 and day 8. These will be provided by NHS Test and Trace.
Countries currently on the red list are: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namiba, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
