London (CNN) — The UK government will update its “green” travel list on Thursday to add Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania, and Norway to the list.
Travelers returning from green-listed countries do not need to quarantine unless their required PCR test result is positive. The travel list changes announced will come into effect on Sunday, August 8, in England.
Arrivals to England from France will also no longer need to quarantine from August 8 if they are fully vaccinated, according to a Department for Transport statement released Wednesday.
The British government will also move India, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE from the “red” list to the “amber” list, meaning that travellers arriving from those countries will no longer need to quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19 and are fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the UK.
The UK considers travelers to be “fully vaccinated” two weeks after having received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine authorized by the UK government, the European Medicines Agency, or the US Food and Drug Administration. Approved vaccines include the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, or the Janssen vaccine (only one dose of Janssen is required).
Meanwhile, Georgia and Mexico will be added to the “red” list on Thursday, requiring travelers arriving from those countries to quarantine for 10 full days in a government-run hotel at a cost of about $3,200 (2,285GBP) per single adult.
The overseas French departments of La Reunion and Mayotte will also be put on the “red” list due to the prevalence of the Beta variant, according to the Department for Transport.
“We are committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we’ve made through our successful vaccination program, helping connect families, friends and businesses around the world,” British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in the statement.
“While we must continue to be cautious, today’s changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public,” he said.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid added: “As well as moving more countries to the green list, today’s announcement also demonstrates the need for continued caution. Further countries have been added to the red list to help protect the success of our vaccine roll out from the threat of new variants.”
