Will the traffic light travel system be dropped after 19 July?
The government has announced that all legal Covid social distancing and mask-wearing restrictions will be dropped from 19 July in England, the so-called Freedom Day, asking instead for Britons to use their own judgement when it comes to evaluating the risk of the disease. These changes apply to England and relate to activities within its borders. The sector has had a very rocky start since it tentatively reopened on 17 May, allowing holidays to a slim list of safe countries alongside onerous restrictions such as pre- and post-departure testing. The system is known as the traffic light system as it sorts countries into three categories (green, amber and red) based on the risk of Covid being reimported to the UK. Heres what we know. The traffic light system was first introduced in mid-May with the aim of labelling countries either green, amber or red according to the level of Covid risk. Countries make the green list if they have a low level of infection; advanced vaccination roll-out; and little presence of a virus variants of concern. At the other end of the scale, red list countries are considered the riskiest to travel to in terms of bringing Covid infections back to the UK. The lists are typically reshuffled every three weeks, with countries moving between the lists according to the latest data. To add to the confusion, there is also a green watchlist, which consists of the countries likely to move from green to amber. The next review is due on 15 July. In his speech to parliament as the new health secretary, Sajid Javid said that we have to learn to live with Covid, and that 19 July will mark the unlocking of society. In his Downing Street press conference, prime minister Boris Johnson confirmed this stance, asking people to use their own judgement when it comes to managing their own activities, and for guidance on masks and social distancing to be guidance only. However, while within the UK people will be free to live their lives with fewer restrictions, it wont apply to international travel  yet. The risk of a Covid variant being reimported remains high, and so restrictions from red list countries will remain in place as part of tough border controls, Mr Johnson confirmed on 5 July. The government has confirmed its plan to allow fully vaccinated travellers to skip quarantine when arriving from amber-listed countries this summer, although they will still be required to take a test. It intends this change to take effect from later in the summer, and the transport secretary Grant Shapps is expected to lay out further details in early July. Mr Johnson said on 5 July: Recognising the protection afforded by two doses of vaccine, we will work with the travel industry towards removing the need for fully vaccinated arrivals to isolate on return from an amber country. And the transport secretary will provide a further update later this week.  The Department for Transport (DfT) said in an update: In recognition of our successful domestic vaccination programme, and as part of the Global Travel Taskforces checkpoint review, our intention is that later in the summer, arrivals who are fully vaccinated will not have to quarantine when travelling from amber list countries. We expect this to occur in phases, starting with UK residents. They will still be required to take a pre-departure test and a test on Day 2, and any positive results will be sequenced to continue to manage the risk of importing variants.