Accurate as of: 15 September 2021
Current UK status
Visit https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ for all official information.
- As of 4pm on 15 September 2021, a total of 282,708,430 coronavirus (COVID-19) tests have been conducted in the UK. 7,312,683 people have tested positive.
- 48,480,178 people have had their first dose of the vaccination, while 44,170,373 have been fully vaccinated.
- 157,669 patients in the UK who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.
UK travel restrictions:
Visit the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office website for all official information.
- The UK government has amended its travelling abroad policy, so that travellers no longer need a ‘valid reason’ to travel abroad, opening international trips up to holidaymakers once again.
- In order to enter the UK from a green list country (or an amber list country for fully vaccinated Brits), a negative Covid-19 test must be completed 72 hours before travel and presented to staff on planes, trains, and ferries in order to board. A further test must be completed at the travellers’ expense before day two of their return.
- In order to enter the UK from an amber list country, a negative Covid-19 test must be completed 72 hours before travel and presented to staff on planes, trains, and ferries in order to board. For unvaccinated travellers, a further two tests must be completed at the travellers’ expense on days two and eight, and they must self-isolate for 10 days. Fully vaccinated travellers do not have to self-isolate, and simply need to take a day two test upon return.
- People entering the UK from high-risk countries, or “red” countries, will have to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense for 10 days.
Latest updates:
- The government is planning to overhaul the travel traffic light system, with changes set to be announced in weeks. Green and amber categories could be removed and replaced with a new system to allow vaccinated travellers to go to countries with similarly high levels of vaccination as the UK without the need for quarantine. (BBC)
- Double-vaccinated travellers will no longer need to take expensive PCR tests when returning to the UK, potentially in time for the October school half-term holidays. Health secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that he wants to remove the PCR test requirement when returning from some foreign countries “as soon as I possibly can”. (Travel Weekly)
- Prices to leading Spanish destinations have fallen by as much as 38% for departures in September and October compared with two years ago according to Travelsupermarket. (TTG)
- The Australian government has started to develop a vaccine passport for international travel, say reports. It has awarded a contract to international IT company Accenture for new digital passenger declarations (DPD), reported The Guardian. “The declarations will replace incoming passenger cards and Covid-19 travel declarations, capturing information including vaccination status to facilitate international travel at scale into Australia.” (Travel Weekly)
- While air passenger traffic and revenue were down more than 50% in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, several carriers got a boost in revenue from their ancillary products and services. According to the 2021 CarTrawlerYearbook of Ancillary.Revenue, produced by IdeaWorksCompany, Allegiant, Spirit, Viva Aerobus and Wizz Air all earned more than 50% of their total revenue from ancillaries in 2020. (PhocusWire)
- Boeing has reported in its annual long-term demand forecast that global aviation will return to pre-pandemic levels only by 2024. The demand for domestic air travel will lead the recovery in 2022, with intra-regional markets expected to follow in 2023 as health and travel restrictions ease. This will be followed by the international travel in 2024. (BusinessTraveller)
- TripActions has launched a global VIP offering for its clients with the service operated by its recent acquisition Reed & Mackay.The company says the platform will offer high-end, worldwide support paired with a cloud-based technology platform and will be aimed at C-suite leaders and executives. (BusinessTravelNews)
Social media:
- LinkedIn is looking to provide more ways for brands to maximize their content efforts on the platform, and tap into its rising levels of user engagaement, with a new feature for Company Pages that it’s calling ‘Articles for Pages.’ The modification will allow companies to post long-form, blog-type posts to their LinkedIn pages. (Social Media Today)
- Google’s streaming TV service, YouTube TV, has announced it’s adding more Spanish-language networks to its base membership package and is preparing to launch an add-on package that will include even more Spanish -language content. (Tech Crunch)
- Instagram has launched a live test of a new feature called ‘Map Search’ in Australia and New Zealand, which enables users to discover businesses and locations of interest on the in-app map, and find info on each listed business, as well as post public posts tagged with that location. (Social Media Today)
- TikTok has announced a new set of resources to provide support for users who may be experiencing mental health issues, specifically related to eating disorders, self-harm and suicide. This includes the expansion of its well-being guides to support people who choose to share their personal experiences on the platform. (Social Media Today)
