Testing rules have been eased for passengers arriving in the UK. The new rules are to come into force from Friday, January 7. The flyers, if fully vaccinated will no longer be in need to take a pre-arrival test before they land in England. Also from Sunday, January 9, international passengers can choose a lateral flow test in place of the PCR test on the second day of their arrival.

As per reports, passenger testing was not contributing to containing the virus spread as Omicron has now become the dominant variant in the country. According to the latest data on the government website, around 1 lakh cases have been reported on January 5, adding to the 12 lakh cases reported in the past seven days.

As per the new instructions, the passengers must book the lateral test before they travel to England as free NHS tests shall not be used for international travel to protect the testing capacity of the country. However, a lateral flow test shall not stand valid before Sunday. The flyers must use a PCR test till then.

The new rules will apply to individuals who are fully vaccinated. This shall also extend to children aged 17 and under and people who are not vaccinated due to other medical reasons. For passengers whose post- arrival lateral flow test comes out to be positive, they must self-isolate themselves and can take a free NHS PCR test to confirm the result.

Unvaccinated passengers will be required to undertake a pre-departure test along with a PCR test on the second and eighth days of their arrival.