It is almost impossible to keep up with changes to overseas territories that require us to self-isolate when returning to the UK from a holiday or business trip.
The government have coined the phrase “travel corridor” to provide a focus for countries that are considered COVID hot spots – and therefore exempt or removed from the safe travel corridor list.
Up-to-date information on these shifts in guidance can be accessed in detail from the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors.
Well worth book-marking this URL if you are travelling abroad and returning to England.
This page only applies to overseas adventurers returning to England, other regions of the UK may have different restrictions in place.
These restrictions apply even if you only made a transit stop in an affected area. A transit stop is defined as:
A stop where passengers can get on or off. It can apply to coaches, ferries, trains or flights. Your ticket should show if a stop is a transit stop.
If your journey involves a transit stop in a country, territory or region not on the travel corridor list, you will need to self-isolate when you arrive in England if:
- new passengers get on
- you or other passengers get off the transport you are on and mix with other people, then get on again
You don’t need to self-isolate beyond normal timescales if, during your transit stop in a non-exempt country, territory or region:
- no new passengers get on
- no-one on-board gets off and mixes with people outside
- passengers get off but do not get back on
Travelling abroad in your own car?
One further consideration. You don’t need to self-isolate if you travel through a non-exempt country, territory or region and you don’t stop there. If you do make a stop, you don’t need to self-isolate if:
- no new people get into the vehicle
- no-one in the vehicle gets out, mixes with other people, and gets in again
You do need to self-isolate if you make a stop and:
- new people get into the vehicle, or
- someone gets out of the vehicle, mixes with other people and gets in again
Obviously, these restrictions rely heavily on the integrity of travellers to be effective…