UK PM Boris Johnson to relax travel curbs; fully vaccinated travellers from UK, US allowed

The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hinted over opening the gates for foreign travellers soon in the country, after lifting the last leg of COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions, after cases started declining. This comes after the Britain government faced severe condemnation from the travel industry, which is seething under the economic burden posed by the country’s strict travel measures.

UK to permit fully vaccinated US & EU travellers to visit country

Foreign travellers from European Union and the USA, who are fully vaccinated now won’t have to quarantine in England, the government is about to make this reform soon. This will be a big boost to the country’s travel companies and airlines. The travel industry has earlier criticised Johnson for opening the tourism sector too late and stressed that the tourists are moving towards European Union, since it has eased the restrictions.

As per a report by Reuters, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier on Wednesday, July 28, to LBC radio that he wants to resume UK-USA travel again. All the U.S. citizens, who are fully vaccinated can come to England "freely". He also mentioned that he is discussing a travel corridor with the United States.

As the news broke, the shares of the British airlines rose, shares in British Airways were up 3%, while easyJet rose 4% and Wizz Air jumped 5%, as investors hoped that the changes would boost demand for travel.

COVID-19 situation in the UK

After several days of continuous rise in Coronavirus cases, they have started to fall down in the country. On Tuesday, July 27, the cases have fallen for 7 days in a row. The country reported around 23,500 cases on tuesday, while last week it reported around 49,000 cases. England recently lifted most COVID-19 restrictions as part of the final step of the roadmap out of the lockdown. Scientists have warned that lifting all restrictions at this stage could increase the likelihood of dangerous variants.
More than 46.5 million people in Britain have received their first vaccine, while over 36.9 million people have had their second jab, the latest figures showed. To bring life back to normal, the Britain government has been racing against time to roll out COVID vaccines.

Image: AP/Unsplash