UK Government to Set Up Travel Task Force

The British government is establishing what it calls a global travel task force to clinch a safe return of all international travel.

The move follows weeks of criticism from the hospitality sector that authorities were moving too slowly in offering assistance to the industry.

The department for transport and the department of health and social care have been working extensively with clinicians, health experts and the private testing sector on the practicalities of testing international arrivals, a statement explained. However, the current rules around the 14-day self-isolation policy remain in place.

The next step is to develop an operationalised approach, which is why the government is creating a task force to work at pace with industry on implementation and to identify options to reduce the self-isolation period while protecting public health.

The task force will accelerate work to inform proposals on a future testing regime and develop options for how this could be introduced.

This will include looking at the feasibility of proposals based on a single test taken after a period of self-isolation, provided by the private sector and at the cost of the passenger.

The task force will work with medical experts to better understand when a test should be taken based on the progression of the disease. It will also work closely with the private testing sector to ensure that testing for international arrivals does not impact on NHS capacity.

The body will also explore alternative testing models, including pilots with partner countries to ascertain whether self-isolation could be undertaken pre-departure.

The task force, which will be jointly chaired by the secretaries of state for transport and health and social care, will also consider other options to boost safe and sustainable tourism and business travel, supporting the sector in its recovery from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.