All travel corridors to close from Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces
Boris Johnson has announced that all travel corridors will end from 4am on Monday 18 January to protect the UK against new coronavirus strains.
The Prime Minister said anyone travelling into the UK must have proof of a negative Covid-19 test in the previous 72 hours. People must immediately go into 10-day isolation on arrival unless they test negative after five days.
Explaining his decision to end the quarantine exemption for arrivals from selected nations, Mr Johnson told the Downing Street press conference: "It’s precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country."
“Yesterday we announced that we’re banning flights from South America and Portugal and to protect us against the risk from as-yet-unidentified strains we will also temporarily close all travel corridors from 0400 on Monday. Following conversations with the devolved administrations, we will act together so this applies across the whole of the UK," he added.