January 6th - Deciphering The New Testing Requirements For Travellers
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2022
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's been 24hrs since the news that UK travellers will have less stringent testing requirements coming in and out of the country. But what do they actually require us to do? Simon Calder looks at the government's plans and picks his way through so you won't find yourself getting stung before or after the changes are implemented.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Simon Calder, welcoming you to my independent travel podcast, bringing you the latest news on traveling, whether you're just dreaming of a great escape, actually away and having the time of your life, or stuck on an underground platform as I am. Today I am looking at how things have changed since 24 |
| 0:28.0 | hours ago when we first learned that things were going to be much easier for fully vaccinated |
| 0:34.2 | travellers to the UK. Lots and lots of matters arising. Let me start by |
| 0:41.8 | saying that at this time yesterday there was only one UK country that was |
| 0:48.3 | signed up to the easier rules and that was England. Gradually, well Wales was first then this morning |
| 0:58.4 | Northern Ireland signed up for it and then finally Scotland quite late on |
| 1:03.6 | Thursday afternoon just about 11 hours before the measures take effect and of |
| 1:10.4 | course what we are getting is a reversal to where we were |
| 1:14.3 | in those halcyon days between the 24th of October and the 30th of November, when all you actually |
| 1:23.1 | needed was a lateral flow test after you arrived. You didn't need to self-isolate and you |
| 1:32.6 | effectively just took it on the day. You got back all one of the two following days. It was |
| 1:37.6 | fairly joyful. I enjoyed that arrangement a couple of times when I arrived back in the UK. Very straightforward. I recommend getting your |
| 1:46.7 | post-arrival test done at the airport as soon as you arrive, partly because that's maximum |
| 1:52.8 | benefit for public health, but also because it means that you've got all the hassle done in one |
| 1:59.5 | go. And I typically would pay about 30 pounds or so |
| 2:03.6 | well in the fast lane that I'm living in well one train going to upminster in one direction |
| 2:09.6 | and this one is heading for Wimbledon so I've had a awful lot of questions about this and let me address the most common ones. |
| 2:20.3 | First one, can I use an NHS lateral flow test as I do for work? |
| 2:27.3 | Well unfortunately no, you can't use it for international travel. |
| 2:30.3 | It must be privately obtained and properly certified. And so that means that |
| 2:38.0 | you are going to have to pay some money. And of course, you're not allowed to fill in your passenger |
| 2:44.6 | locator form until you've got your post-arrival test booked. So there's absolutely no way around it. Another question, |
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