UK: Government to finally allow airport testing as industry fury grows

As the number of unrestricted international travel options for British holidaymakers shrinks towards zero, the government has indicated it may finally allow testing to reduce the length of quarantine for arrivals to the UK. Ministers have repeatedly said that a Covid-19 test on arrival would identify only 7% of people with the virus, though that figure – based on a theoretical paper written in June – has been widely disputed. Dozens of countries are using testing either as an alternative to quarantine or as a means to reduce the time travellers spend in self-isolation. With pressure growing from the aviation industry, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, and the health secretary, Matt Hancock, are expected in the next few days to outline a test-and-quarantine programme. On Saturday, Stephen Barclay, the chief secretary to the treasury, told the Conservative Party conference the government is looking at “what testing can we have at airports, and how does that interact with the quarantine rules?”. The minister said that Germany, where passengers from high-risk countries are required to quarantine until a negative test result is processed, is being studied as a possible model. Heathrow has been calling for testing at airports for four months.<br/>