Bahrain moves to UK amber list
MANAMA: Travellers from Bahrain will not need to quarantine in a hotel upon arrival in the UK, starting August 8, after Bahrain moves off the UK’s red list and onto its amber list, the UK government has announced.
The British departments for transport as well as health and social care have also revealed that travellers who arrive in the UK from Bahrain after 4am on August 8 will be permitted to quarantine at home, while those who arrive before this time will be required to follow the red list rules.
Bahrain has been on the UK Red List since June 4, due to then-rising Covid-19 positivity rates, but since numbers have started to fall, the country is set to be on the amber list, starting Sunday.
The move comes on the heels of France adding Bahrain to its green list on August 1.
Under the UK Amber List rules, travellers must still complete a Covid-19 test in the three days preceding their departure and show a negative result.
They are also required to book Covid-19 tests on the second and eighth day after their arrival before they fly out. These tests can be booked and paid for online prior to arrival, and can range in price from £20 (BD10.5) to £575 (BD301) based on the selected level of service.
In addition, all travellers must complete a passenger locator form in the 48 hours before arriving in the UK.
Information like passport details, travel times and dates, UK address, and Covid-19 test booking reference numbers must be provided in this form.
On arrival, passengers must quarantine for 10 days at home or at the address provided on the form.
They must complete tests on the second and eighth days. Travellers will also be required to download the National Health Service (NHS) mobile application.
Those who are vaccinated in Bahrain do not currently qualify for any exemptions from these rules.
There is an option to ‘Test and Release’, under which a traveller can elect to book a separate test, which will be done on day five, in addition to the two compulsory tests. If the results in the first compulsory test as well as the additional test are negative, the traveller will be allowed to leave quarantine early.
They are still required to do a test on the eighth day.
In the event of testing positive, travellers must quarantine for 10 days starting from the date of the positive Covid-19 result or the date that you started showing symptoms, whichever is earlier.
Previously, under the red list rules, British nationals were forced to quarantine at a hotel, paying approximately £1750 (BD916) for the stay, including two tests, an 11-night isolated stay as well as food and beverages.
Bahrain’s Ambassador to the UK Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa welcomed the move. In a tweet, he said: “Immensely proud of the relentless efforts of Team Bahrain, led by HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Salman, in guiding and driving our country’s Covid response through the pandemic.
“Congratulations to us all for being removed from the UK red travel list.”
British Ambassador to Bahrain Roddy Drummond responded by tweeting: “And my thanks to Team Bahrain for their diligence in sharing data with my authorities, and also sharing their experience of their fight against new variants. We’re all in this together.”
Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/963157/Bahrain-moves-to-UK-amber-list
