LONDON — Fully vaccinated UK residents arriving in England from "amber list" countries will no longer have to quarantine from July 19. They will, however, still need to pay for coronavirus tests before and after their return, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said as he set out the details to enable people to travel to "amber list" countries. The transport secretary clarified that only those who have passed 14 days after taking their final dose a vaccine approved in the UK will be considered fully vaccinated. Those who have been fully vaccinated and are returning from amber countries will still be required to complete a pre-departure test before arrival into England, alongside a PCR test on or before day 2 after arrival. They will not have to take a day 8 test or self-isolate. Any positive results will be genomically sequenced to continue to manage the risk from importing variants. Children under the age of 18 will not have to isolate when returning to England. While the recommendation that people should not travel to amber countries is being removed, children aged 4 and under will continue to be exempt from any travel testing. Children aged 5 to 10 will only need to do a day 2 PCR and 11 to 18 year olds will need to take both a pre-departure test and a day 2 PCR — as is the case for arrivals from "green list" countries.
