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A THREAD on the testing rules for international travel that the government is set to announce. This covid policy change might actually hold the record for the longest government delay before finally doing the blindingly obvious.
Testing passengers has been requested by the aviation industry since the first lockdown, as @SimonCalder notes here. https://twitter.com/SimonCalder/status/1346461356715880456?s=20
Not only is testing an important way to control the virus but it also gives people confidence to travel and should mean that we can limit quarantine requirements do that they only apply to those who pose the highest risk.
Because the blanket quarantine policy introduced last May has never been a good idea. It doesn’t work from either a health or an economic perspective. I described it as “an indiscriminate response to an increasingly nuanced situation.”
No-one welcomed it - as the likes of @DaveHill, @GuardianHeather and others reported here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/22/uk-arrivals-8-june-quarantine-for-14-days-coronavirus and here: https://www.onlondon.co.uk/london-business-groups-slam-indiscriminate-and-arrogant-government-quarantine-plans-for-uk-arrivals/
In early June, @London_First and other business groups wrote to the government highlighting the 1.5 million jobs supported by air travel and that 40% of exports to non-EU countries go by plane.
That first letter is here: https://www.londonfirst.co.uk/news-publications/news/joint-letter-from-london-first-and-leading-business-groups-to-secretaries-of And it was covered by @DanielThomasLDN and @PickardJE here: https://www.ft.com/content/978bfca9-bc2a-4458-b847-24eea720a765
That letter asked for 3 things: travel corridors with low-risk countries; returning to risk-based travel advice from the Foreign Office; and “A comprehensive approach to health screening for arrivals into the UK to help control the virus over the coming months.”
Less than a month later, travel corridors were introduced. We asked to see the criteria for countries being added to or removed from the list. So that people and businesses could plan and make decisions. Six months on, it is still a black box.
We followed up with a letter – again from a broad coalition of business groups – that called for the government to commit “to working with the private sector to find a solution to enable safe travel within higher risk locations.” https://www.londonfirst.co.uk/news-publications/blog/businesses-and-people-seek-the-next-steps-for-a-return-to-safe-international
Because by this point (late July) private companies were ploughing money into proving a system being used by many other European countries was safe and practical. They even set up testing facilities at airports that they weren’t yet allowed to use. @TomEPayne covered this widely.
In September, @MarkKleinmanSky reported us saying "If we don't act fast with testing, we will make it more difficult for British businesses to continue as world class global players… We must ensure that important trade routes are not irreparably damaged" https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-business-groups-pile-pressure-on-shapps-over-airport-testing-12084555
In early October @grantshapps announced a Global Travel Taskforce to work out what many other European countries had worked out months earlier. In the meantime, @yourheathrow had lost its place at the top of European airport rankings.
That matters not just because Heathrow is the largest single site of employment in the UK, but because huge sections of the economy rely on air travel. Tourism is the obvious one (7% of UK economy), but it is just as important to make of our universities and manufacturers.
Put simply, if we want to build “Global Britain” after this pandemic and now outside the EU then we need to value, support, and invest in our international connections. We can’t be a hub for talent, tourism, and trade without being able to get to and from the rest of the world.
So, in November, @London_First wrote to the Global Travel Taskforce: https://www.londonfirst.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/GlobalTravelTaskforce.pdf We outlined 8 principles for an international testing regime and stated that it should fully replace quarantine by Easter 2021.
Instead, 6 weeks ago, the Global Travel Taskforce merely recommended that the government “develop a pre-departure testing proposal”. (Report here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/940142/report-of-the-global-travel-taskforce.pdf)
It also created the “test to release” system – a negative PCR test 5 days after you land allows you to leave quarantine early. An improvement, but not a solution. Especially not once travel starts to ramp up again as people get vaccinated.
The 8 principles for an international testing regime that will support the post-covid recovery are:
1. Realistic about risk
2. Dynamic and transparent
3. Clear and simple in its structure and communication
4. Regional in its approach to remaining restrictions...
1. Realistic about risk
2. Dynamic and transparent
3. Clear and simple in its structure and communication
4. Regional in its approach to remaining restrictions...
The 8 principles (continued)
5. Understanding of business trips
6. Proactive in using trials to refine the regime
7. The basis for a common international standard
8. Psychologically and financially affordable for passengers
5. Understanding of business trips
6. Proactive in using trials to refine the regime
7. The basis for a common international standard
8. Psychologically and financially affordable for passengers
So now we await the details of the government testing scheme. They’ve had more than enough time (more than 8 months) to get this right and they’ve been shown repeatedly how to do it. This will only matter more as we get closer to the end of the pandemic tunnel.
