To ease travel norms between India and Britain, the UK Transport Secretary announced on Thursday, 5 August, that India, along with the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain will be moved from the country’s ‘red’ list to its ‘amber’ list starting 8 August.
The red, amber, and green lists comprise different sets of rules a passenger must follow before travelling to England.
What are the new rules? What if one is Covishield-vaccinated? What rules are to be followed upon arrival? Here's everything we know.
What are the new rules?
Under the rules of the amber list, fully vaccinated passengers from India will not have to undergo a compulsory 10-day hotel quarantine. However, returning from amber-list countries means a 10-day quarantine at home or the place a passenger has confirmed as their location.
Moreover, if you travel from an amber-list country but have been in a red-list country in the 10 days before you arrive in England, you must follow rules for red-list countries.
What rules are to be followed before travelling to the UK?
Before you travel to England you must:
Take a COVID-19 test in the three days before you travel to England.
Book and pay for COVID-19 tests – to be done after arrival in England.
Complete a passenger locator form.
What rules are to be followed upon arrival in the UK?
On arrival in England you must:
Quarantine at home or at the place you are staying for 10 days
Take a COVID-19 test on or before Day-2 and on or after Day-8
What if I'm Covishield-vaccinated?
Passengers under 18 years of age and those who have been fully vaccinated in the UK are exempt from the home-quarantine rule. Those who have received two doses of COVID vaccine in the European Union and United States have also been exempted.
Additionally, passengers fully vaccinated in a country with a vaccination programme approved by the UK and which is part of a UK-approved vaccine trial will also be exempted from home quarantine.
The India-manufactured Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield is likely to be covered under this exemption.
What countries are on the green list?
Seven countries are moving to the green list – Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania, and Norway.
People will not have to quarantine when returning from these nations, regardless of their vaccination status, although they will have to take a pre-departure test and another 1 or 2 days after arrival.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)