All international passengers arriving in the United Kingdom by plane, train or boat, including citizens, must test negative for coronavirus 72 hours prior to their departure, the government said on Friday. The new measures, which will come into force next week, aim to help protect against new highly-contagious strains of the virus, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement. Shapps said travelers "can't board... without having that negative test". But even with a negative test, arrivals from countries not on the travel corridor list must still quarantine for 10 days. Shapps said the government was "very keen" to set up compulsory testing now because of the new variant of the virus circulating in South Africa, which he said was "causing great concern with the scientists". Those found failing to comply with the new regulations will be subject to an immediate fine of 500 British pounds ($680), said the secretary. The new variant prevalent in South Africa has got some potentially concerning changes that experts are closely monitoring. While it is extremely unlikely the mutations would render vaccines useless, scientists are doing tests to make sure immunization will still work well. — Agencies
