Major changes to international travel rules could be announced today

Major changes to the rules for international travel are expected to be announced tomorrow, according to reports.

The green and amber lists will be merged into one category of low-risk nations and the number of places on the red list will be reduced, some reports say.

Live updates ahead of latest travel announcement

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And according to The Times, Turkey could be taken off the red list in time for the October half-term.

Data expert Tim White has told Sky News that as many as 12 countries could lose their red designation: Argentina, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Kenya, Maldives, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

There are currently 62 countries on the red list.

But the rules around red list travel – spending 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of £2,285 for solo travellers – are expected to remain the same.

There have also been suggestions that those who are fully vaccinated will no longer need to take a lateral flow test before their departure and a PCR test after their arrival.

The move would save travellers around £100 a trip.

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At the moment, travellers who are not double jabbed have to take a PCR test and do not need to isolate after arriving from a nation on the green list.

Reports suggest this could be changed and under the new system they would be required to quarantine at home and take two tests when coming back from a low-risk location.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’s expected announcement on Friday will only apply to England.

But the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also implemented recent changes announced in Westminster.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid indicated earlier this week that PCR tests for fully vaccinated travellers will be scrapped in favour of cheaper lateral flow tests, amid accusations some of the private testing companies listed on the government website have been advertising misleading low prices and providing poor service.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a Downing Street news conference on Monday that the government is considering “simplifying” the traffic light system for overseas travel and what it can do to make the “burdens of testing less onerous for those who are coming back into the country”.