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Just 1% of amber arrivals test positive for Covid

Only 1% of arrivals from amber list destinations tested positive for Covid-19, according to new figures released by NHS Test and Trace.

All travellers returning to the UK must pay for day-two PCR tests, whether they are vaccinated or not.

The figures for those arriving in England, from August 25-September 1, show that 3,347 (0.9%) day-two tests on amber arrivals were positive, compared to 392 (1%) day-eight tests and 135 (0.6%) Test to Release tests.

For arrivals from red-list countries, 165 (1.3%) day-two tests were positive compared to 121 (1.4%) the previous week. Meanwhile 35 (0.7%) day-eight tests were positive compared to 31 (0.7%) the previous week.

The NHS’s Managed Quarantine Service has managed the testing of arrivals since February 15. Since then, 3.6 million people have quarantined at home or in a managed hotel.

The tiny percentages of positive tests among arrivals will add fuel to trade arguments that PCR testing must be scrapped.

Abta and the Advantage Travel Partnership are among those which have been lobbying for PCR tests to be axed.

Tuesday afternoon (September 14) saw a Twitterstorm organised by Abta as part of its campaign against the current regime of PCR tests.

And Advantage commissioned independent research that found that just nine cases featuring Very High Priority or High Priority VOCs/VUIs (Variants of Concern/Variants Under Investigation) had been identified among almost two million arrivals since May.

All other positive cases identified among travellers were for ‘standard’ variants such as delta and alpha which are already widespread in the UK.

Photograph: Viacheslav Lopatin/Shutterstock

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