UK-bound students told to follow PCR test rules

To ensure smooth travel, Oman’s’ cultural attache in London has urged Omani and all students travelling to the country to take necessary precautions.

“All students travelling to or from the country of the scholarship must communicate with the airline within no less than 24 hours from the date of travel to ensure the conditions of the trip, as each company has its laws for travel during the pandemic, and some companies change their laws on regular basis,” the cultural attache said.

International travellers will need to present a negative COVID-19 test to enter England from 4 am on January 15.

Passengers will be required to take a test in the 72 hours before departure by plane, train or ferry, and provide evidence of a negative result or be refused permission to board.

The move comes in response to the worsening incidence of transmission around the world and particularly the emergence of new coronavirus variants, ministers said.

Arrivals will still need to isolate for 10 days in the UK or opt into the test-to-release programme, which potentially allows people to leave quarantine from the fifth day with a fresh negative test.

The rules will also apply to British nationals, who would need to stay abroad and follow local rules on self-isolation if testing positive. The onus will be on airlines or other transport operators to check for a negative test and deny boarding without documentation or face being fined. Passengers found at the border to be non-compliant will also be fined at least £500. Children under the age of 11 will be exempt, as will haulers and transport operators’ crew.

The measures are likely to be in place until the end of the lockdown but will be reviewed before that.

PCR TESTS FOR US TRAVELLERS

All air travellers will need to present a negative coronavirus test to enter the United States under expanded test testing requirements announced on Tuesday.

Under the rules taking effect January 26, nearly all travellers including US citizens must show a negative test within three days of departure or documentation of recovery from COVID-19, under an order signed by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield.

All travellers aged 2 and older must comply except passengers who are only transiting through the United States.

The order dramatically broadens a requirement imposed on December 28 for travellers arriving from the UK as a more transmissible variant of the virus circulated there.