London will park traffic light system say reports

The United Kingdom's travel traffic light system is reportedly due to be updated this week with officials reportedly planning new rules based on the vaccination status of travelers rather than the COVID-19 rating of the country they are visiting.

A simplified system would mean "amber" and "green" would disappear as separate risk categories, although "red" would continue with travelers still required to quarantine in hotels on returning from high-risk destinations, British media reported on Thursday.

When the traffic light system was originally unveiled, the government promised to review it by Oct 1－a date that coincides with the completion of the vaccination rollout, with all adults aged 18 and older due to have been offered both their jabs by the end of this month.

Earlier this week, at a Downing Street news briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the government is considering what it could do to make "the burdens of testing less onerous for those who are coming back into the country".

In the same briefing, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, said that more expensive PCR tests, required on the second and eighth day after arrival in the UK, could be dropped for cheaper rapid tests for double-jabbed passengers.

Those who have not had both doses of the vaccine would still be required to self-isolate or take the tests under any change to the rules, a source told the Financial Times.

Currently, travelers also have to take a pre-departure lateral flow test up to 72 hours before boarding UK-bound flights and ferries. Javid suggested these may no longer be needed.

Javid said the new rules will be announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps "as soon as he is ready".

The UK tourism sector has always objected to the complicated arrangements, which it says have discouraged inbound and outbound travel.

Paul Charles, an adviser to several travel companies, told the Financial Times that the current system needed to be changed in order to revive confidence in booking travel. "People have been most worried about the pre-departure test," he said.

An airline executive told the finance paper that the industry would struggle to recover until "the complexity and inconvenience" of testing requirements for vaccinated passengers was removed completely.

In the same briefing, Johnson said that decisions on travel policy were guided by protecting public health.

He said: "I appreciate that people are very frustrated about the travel rules but it's vital that we do whatever we can to stop the virus being re-imported and particularly to control new variants when they're at risk of coming in. That's why we have the rules.

"I know travelers have been frustrated this summer ... but it's reasonable to ask people to do that to help protect the population."