COVID: Brits abroad race to reach home before Jan. 13 or risk getting stranded abroad

Some 100,000 Britons abroad are currently in a race to reach the United Kingdom before Wednesday, January 13, or risk getting stranded abroad as they have just five days to get home or face being banned without negative Covid test.

According to the new diktat, travellers to be banned from entering the UK from next week if they do not have negative test, even if one is a citizen.

It is expected to cause a scramble for return flights as around 100,000 Brits are currently away in hotspots such as Dubai and the Maldives.

Consequently, there are concerns in the travel industry that some will be stuck away on holiday with little time to get back, according to DailyMail.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today revealed that the diktat forcing travellers to present a negative Covid test before travelling to the UK will be imposed ‘next Wednesday or Thursday’ to give 100,000 Britons abroad the chance to get home.

The Transport Secretary has said nobody will be able to depart for Britain by plane, train or ferry unless they present a ‘recognised’ test result on check-in along with a valid passport and visa if required.

Mr Shapps said that airlines or other travel firms such as Eurostar or P&O would be forced by law to check – and turn back anyone without one.

Anyone who slips through will face a £500 on-the-spot fine. It is not clear whether they will then forced into quarantine or prosecuted.

Travellers will have to self-isolate for ten days after arrival, regardless of whether they tested negative, to the ire of industry leaders.

The leaders, today, declared that the plan will further damage Britain’s travel industry’.

Mr Shapps said the new rules will be imposed in five or six days time to avoid a scramble to get back from abroad.

‘The carriers, airlines, train operators or a ferry, would be required by law to check for a test result in the same way they check you have a passport or if you are going to the States you have a visa or a visa waiver,’ he told Sky News.

‘They will need to check whether you have a coronavirus test valid within the 72 hours before you fly.

“They are already having to check for a passenger locator form so we can contact them if it later transpires they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

‘For the time being at least these forms and tests are a reality of travel – but we hope that soon most people will be vaccinated so this is not something we will want to do permanently’.

Ministers agreed the strict measures last night amid growing pressure to tighten borders – but have not confirmed a start date, although it is expected to be next week.

They will apply to Britons and foreign nationals in a bid to keep out infections and mutant strains such as the one in South Africa.

Britons may be stranded abroad as ministers say travellers will be banned from entering the UK within days if they do not have proof they are clear of coronavirus.

Passengers on planes, boats or trains will be banned from entering the UK next week if they do not have a negative test within 72 hours of departure.

But there are concerns in the travel industry some will be stuck on holiday because many destinations – such as Barbados – do not have testing facilities.

Every traveller coming into UK ports or airports should have a pre-flight negative test to enter or will face a £500 on-the-spot fine. It is not clear whether they will then forced into quarantine.

Heathrow Airport’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye warns it will be another hammer blow to the aviation industry.

The Heathrow boss said that as coronavirus vaccines are rolled out in the UK and other countries, flights would return and passenger numbers would start “building up” through the summer and into the autumn.

But he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “That’s an awful long time for the aviation sector to survive and we need to see some support from the Government for the airport sector.”

“Very few people will travel with this in place,” the Heathrow boss warned.

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