No Covid testing decision for arrivals before November, UK to announce

A decision on plans to introduce Covid-19 testing for international arrivals to cut quarantine times will not come until next month at the earliest, with Downing Street instead setting up a global travel taskforce to look at proposals. After months of lobbying by the beleaguered aviation industry, which has been crippled by two-week quarantine restrictions, an announcement on whether tests for arrivals from at-risk countries would be introduced by the UK government was widely anticipated to come this week. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, had indicated an impending change, telling the Tory party’s virtual conference on Monday that he would be saying more shortly. However, in a blow to the aviation industry, rather than announcing the start of testing for international arrivals, the Guardian has learned the government is instead planning to announce the launch of the taskforce – jointly chaired by Shapps and the health secretary, Matt Hancock – which has been set up at the request of Boris Johnson. An announcement is expected on Thursday but could come sooner. Part of its remit, which is broadly looking at ways to reinvigorate overseas travel, will be to explore options for implementing a testing regime for international arrivals to cut 14-day quarantine times. It is not due to report back until mid-November, meaning a decision on testing to cut quarantine times would not come before next month at the earliest.<br/>