Covid: Will the traffic light travel system be scrapped soon?

September 2021 | Reading time: 3 minutes

There are indications that the current traffic light travel rules may be abandoned to be replaced by a simpler two-tier system.

Currently, British travellers must adhere to the traffic light system when embarking on an overseas journey. The traffic light system designates countries to coloured lists based on the COVID-19 risks they pose. Countries with the highest risks are sorted into the red list, and the lowest-risk countries are sorted into the green list. All other countries are grouped into the amber list.

Depending on which country a person visits, they must follow the respective travel restrictions of the traffic light of that country. These include the COVID-19 testing requirements before and after the journey and quarantine rules on return to the UK.

However, the traffic light travel system may be abandoned in a few weeks in favour of a simpler arrangement involving two categories: ‘high-risk’ and ‘low-risk’.

The new system will purportedly revolve primarily around the vaccination statuses of travellers as opposed to the COVID-19 risks of destination countries.

According to a source who spoke to The Telegraph: ‘It’s about whether you are vaccinated or not, rather than the country you are travelling to.

‘What it means is that green and amber disappear, and only vaccination status will count for where you travel. For a vaccinated person, just as now, all countries apart from red are ‘green’.

‘For an unvaccinated person, it means that your travel to a green country might be slightly more difficult.

‘There’s a potential psychological boost in that a lot of people think travel to amber is risky whereas if it disappeared, people may be more willing to travel to X, Y or Z.

‘It could also incentivise people to get vaccinated. There’s been a slowdown in the rate of vaccination, particularly among younger people, and that’s a way to encourage take-up.’

In accordance with the current rules, fully vaccinated individuals are not required to self-isolate on return to the UK after visiting an amber list country. And with more people receiving the second jab every day, the travel rules for green and amber list countries are essentially the same for most people; pre-travel COVID-19 tests and a Day 2 PCR test on return to the UK.

Get all the required travel tests for visiting green list countries in one place: VIVO Clinic’s Green Travel Test Package.

The red list and the restrictions assigned to it will allegedly remain in place, albeit with a new label. The new travel system might ditch the green and amber lists for a unified ‘low risk’ label. The ‘low risk’ designation of travel destinations is obviously designed with fully vaccinated travellers in mind; it is still unclear what the rules will be for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals.

According to travel specialist Simon Calder, ‘It will just be assumed that everyone is vaccinated and therefore wherever you are going, perhaps with a relatively small list of places, you won’t need to quarantine.’

Although the new system may encourage people who still have not been inoculated to receive their vaccines, it is doubtful the PCR tests for travel will be discarded any time soon.