COVID tests for travel are “a predictable COVID rip-off,” according to Lord Tyrie, the former head of the UK Competition and Markets Authority. Currently, all travellers must take at least one PCR test after arriving in England, which they must pay for themselves from an approved provider, in addition to a test prior to departure from…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer recommend its PCR test to detect the CCP virus, saying that it will withdraw the test’s emergency use authorization (EUA), and instead, encourage labs to use a multiplex assay that can detect and differentiate the virus from the flu. “Given the availability of commercial…

UK health authorities are carrying out the country’s “largest surge testing operation” so far to curb the spread of the South African variant of the CCP virus in parts of South London, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said on Monday. Extra testing and genomic sequencing are taking place across parts of South…

Britain’s airline industry has criticised the government’s plan to restart international travel, saying it’s too expensive and will make flying unaffordable. The government’s Global Travel Taskforce published a report on Friday, which set out COVID-19 testing requirements for international travellers but gave no clarity on whether Britons will be allowed to travel abroad from May…

Travellers who break Britain’s COVID-19 quarantine rules will face fines and jail terms of up to 10 years, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday. Under new rules that will come into force on Feb. 15, anyone travelling to the UK from a country on the UK’s travel ban list will be required to quarantine…