All passengers arriving in Scotland from abroad must now self-isolate for ten days after quarantine ‘travel corridors’ were scrapped.
New rules came into force at 4am on Monday as Ministers scramble to stop the spread of Covid-19 after mutant strains of the virus began to appear around the globe.
Anyone arriving on Scottish soil by train, boat or plane must also present a negative coronavirus test taken no more than 72 hours before they arrive.
READ MORE: Coronavirus vaccine sites set up by army
However, it remains the case that travel to or from Scotland without a reasonable excuse is not permitted.
Most people from outside the UK who meet the limited criteria to travel to Scotland will still require to undertake pre-departure tests and must have a valid negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than three days before the scheduled time of departure.
This will be checked by operators, and passengers with a positive test result or an invalid certificate will be refused boarding.
Limited exemptions for essential purposes will be maintained, but the list of exemptions to the restrictions will be tightened.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “International travel has played a key role in previous waves of coronavirus and is a significant risk to our efforts to suppress the virus to the lowest possible level. The emergence of these new variants mean we must think carefully about restrictions on travel.
“It is crucial we take the right steps to prevent importing new strains that can increase transmission or undermine the vaccine in Scotland.
"Travel into or out of Scotland is currently illegal and that will remain the case while we work to suppress the new strain of COVID-19. It remains the case that any travel must be for an essential reason."
READ MORE: 1,341 new Covid cases in 24 hours and no new deaths
He added: "Everyone must stay at home as much as possible to minimise the risk of catching or spreading the virus.”
Karen Dee, chief executive of trade body the Airport Operators Association, supported the decision but stressed the need for “a clear pathway out”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve had the worst year in the entire history of our industry so the sooner we can get flying again safer, the better.”
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said the loss of travel corridors will not have a “significant impact” on his airline in the short term as flight numbers were already limited due to the pandemic.
He told Today that the minimum number of days arrivals must wait to take a negative test releasing them from quarantine could be reduced from five days to three days.
“We know that there’s a big difference between people’s willingness to sacrifice to go and travel if you have to quarantine for 10 days or 14 days, down to five days or even three days,” he said.
“So it’s really, really important that, as part of the plan for recovery, the Government also has the plan to unwind these restrictions that are in place.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel