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Quarantine could be cut to seven days in time for Christmas, says Grant Shapps

GettyImages-1228291124-airport-testing.jpg
GettyImages-1228291124-airport-testing.jpg

Quarantine could be reduced to seven days by December 1 in time for Christmas, Grant Shapps has said.

The Transport Secretary said he hoped to have testing in place by the beginning of December to enable holidaymakers and business travellers to quit quarantine after paying for a single negative test on the seventh day after their return.

“The only caveat being this will now be in the hands of private sector provision, and making sure that sufficient tests are available,” he told Airlines 2050 summit for the aviation industry.

It would mean that families and their children could go on holiday in the knowledge that they would not have to go into 14-day isolation and miss school on their return and enable relatives to visit depending on local or national lockdowns by then.

Mr Shapps also revealed that he was studying proposals to eradicate quarantine through travellers taking a pre-departure test followed by daily testing both before and after arrival.

Such a scheme could initially be trialled on “blue riband” US-UK routes to open up business and a tourist trade worth some £25 million a day between the two countries.

A third option would involve pre-departure testing up to 72 hours before flying, followed by testing after arrival which could reduce quarantine by as much as ten or 12 days in the UK.

The plans are being drawn up by a taskforce headed by Mr Shapps and Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, and will report to Boris Johnson at the beginning of November in time for decisions to be taken for December 1.

Mr Shapps described it as a “test and release” regime with a single test paid for by travellers to release them from quarantine after seven days. "The next step is to develop how this approach can be implemented," he said.

Alongside that “domestic” regime,” he said the UK was working with other countries such as the US Homeland Security on pre-departure testing schemes to establish if self-isolation could take place before travellers flew.

“We need a global system and the UK will show leadership by developing a framework for international travel,” he said.

“That could involve a series of tests, which may involve quarantine, before or after flight, or a combination of the two and ultimately if the technology is there, no quarantine at all in return for perhaps daily rapid tests.

“So we are working on both versions. That international version requires international cooperation. I don't want to put all our eggs in the basket or wait for what you might describe as an [international] standard to be developed. I can do [the domestic version] on our own.”

Meanwhile,  the new boss of British Airways has demanded that the self-isolation requirement for international arrivals is replaced by Covid-19 tests before departure.

Sean Doyle, who was appointed chief executive last week, told the Airlines 2050 summit of industry leaders that "we do not believe quarantine is the solution".

He said: "We believe the best way to reassure people is to introduce a reliable and affordable test before flying.

"For the UK, this approach reduces the stress on the NHS testing systems within the UK and on policing the quarantine system. If we look abroad to our near neighbours, we see that business travel and indeed tourism is being prioritised by some countries.

"We need to get the economy moving again and this just isn't possible when you're asking people to quarantine for 14 days. It's our view that even if that quarantine period is reduced to seven days, people won't travel here and the UK will get left behind."