*UK TRAVEL UPDATE*
From today, 4th of October, there will be significant changes to the UKs international travel rules, making journeys to the UK easier.
This email aims to lay out, firstly, the changes which come into effect on the UK Governments website as of 4th Oct 2021, and Secondly, any significant changes to DAN 18 v7.5 which was released on 30 Sept 21.
Changes to UK Travel
The following changes will come into effect from 4 Oct 21: http://www.gov.uk
• Amber/Green lists removed. Countries on the red list can be found HERE.
• Travel is now categorised as “RED List Country”, “Rest of the world (Vaccinated)”, or “Rest of the world (non-Vaccinated)”.
• If you have travelled through a RED List country in the 10 days prior to entry into the UK, you MUST follow the “Red List Travel Rules”.
1. Traveller from a RED list country – When travelling to the UK you will have to:
• take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
• book a quarantine hotel package, including 2 COVID-19 tests
• complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
• When you arrive in England, you must quarantine in a managed hotel, including 2 COVID-19 tests.
i. Note: Defence Personnel are still able to take advantage of the “home Quarantine Exemption” when travelling for Duty or Personal Resilience Reasons laid out in Section 3.4 of DAN18 v 7.5.
2. Traveller from rest of the world (VACCINATED) – When travelling to the UK you will have to:
• book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England
• complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
• take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England
• Note: if travelling to the UK from a non-red list country, and are fully vaccinated you no longer require:
o a pre-departure test
o a day 8 test on arrival
o quarantine for 10 days
• Note: EJSU COVID Cell will continue to advise Duty/GYH/SCV/Exemption travellers to book their day 2 test using the day 2&8 booking form on EJSU.net. This is in line with direction in DAN18 v7.5, Annex C, Paragraph 1.
3. Traveller from rest of the world (Non-VACCINATED) – When travelling to the UK you will have to:
• take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
• book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
• complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
• quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
• take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8
Changes to DAN18 v7.5
The changes to DAN18 largely reflect those changes highlighted above. However, there is additional clarity in the DAN regarding Vaccines (section 5), and Testing for Children/Boarding Schools (Annex A&B)
Section 5 (VACCINES): This section covers the nuances related to vaccines experienced by defence personnel based overseas. This includes;
• Registering for NHS COVID Pass Certificate
• Registering a vaccine administered by a Host Nation Provider
• Repetition of the gov.uk new travel rules
• Note: There is mention of Amber-Plus in Sec 5.3 – this should have been removed prior to the publishing of this version of the DAN. Please ignore it.
Annexes A&B (Children & Boarding Schools): This section includes clarification regarding the age thresholds for different travellers. (This is all on the gov.uk site but can be is difficult to find: LINK HERE)
o Prior to travel to the UK. Non-vaccinated travellers over 11 years are required to possess a negative test result taken within 72 hours of departure.
o Post arrival. All arrivals over 5 years, who are not vaccinated, are required to take a test on days 2 and 8 of quarantine. This testing package is included in the Managed Quarantine package.
EJSU.net has been uploaded and can be found at: EJSU.net/ejsu-orders
Please take the time to read both DAN18 and the gov.uk pages before sending any questions to the EJSU COVID Cell.