Covid travel restrictions for England to be dropped despite rise in cases

theguardian.com:

All remaining Covid travel restrictions are to be dropped in England from later this week, despite aconcerning rise in cases and hospitalisations.

Ministers approved the scrapping of passenger locator forms and the requirement for all unvaccinated arrivals to get tested, with the changes to come into force from 4am on Friday.

Tory MPs and the aviation industry had put pressure on the government to make the move before Easter, given all domestic restrictions have already been repealed.

Announcing the move, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said on Monday that the changes will “mean greater freedom in time for Easter”.

Given that health restrictions are a devolved matter, it will be up to the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland whether to follow suit. However, they have often kept pace with England on decisions affecting international travel.

The decision will be welcomed by the travel industry. On Monday, Heathrow announced that air passengers travelling through the airport will no longer be required to wear a mask from Wednesday. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they were also preparing to drop the requirement onboard, when flying to destinations that do not require face coverings on planes.

Heathrow said it would still strongly encourage people to continue to wear masks at the airport, in recognition that the pandemic was not over, but it would no longer be a firm requirement – mirroring the practice around UK transport.

BA and Virgin said rules would depend on the destinations with masks required on many routes, including to the US until at least 18 April. Virgin flights to the Caribbean from both Heathrow and Manchester will see optional mask-wearing.

It comes as Britain’s Covid situation