Transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced that “high-value” business travellers will get an exemption from quarantine from Saturday.
Other professions to be allowed to travel without the need for self-isolation include performing arts professionals, TV production staff, journalists and recently signed elite sportspeople.
The exemption applies to all countries, regardless of if they have a travel corridor. Conditions apply and more detail is to follow.
The changes will come into effect for arrivals into England at 5am on December 5.
No changes were made to the government’s travel corridor list this week, Shapps confirmed via Twitter.
In his tweet, Shapps said the changes were designed with the purpose of “allowing more travel to support the economy and jobs”.
The government’s ‘test to release’ scheme, through which those arriving in the UK from non-corridor countries can reduce quarantine to as little as five days if they test negative on the fifth day, is due to come into force on December 15.