COVID-19: TRAVEL SELF-ISOLATION CHANGES: ENGLAND:LATEST

Into force tomorrow Saturday 26 September 2020 for England come the swingingly entitled Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (England) (Amendment) (No 15) Regulations 2020 SI 2020/1039. This - in the language of the notes to the regulations - is what they do. These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (England) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/568) (“the principal Regulations”) to— (a) remove Curaçao, Denmark, Iceland and Slovakia from the list of exempt countries and territories, in Schedule A1 to the principal Regulations, from which passengers arriving in England are not required to self-isolate; (b) amend Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations to: (i) create a new exemption from the requirement to self-isolate for people undertaking activities necessary for the participation of the organisation they represent in the 4th National Lottery Licence Competition, (ii) create a new exemption from the requirement to self-isolate for elite sportspersons travelling to the United Kingdom for medical examinations and people accompanying them in order to provide necessary care and support, (iii) expand the exemption from the requirement to self-isolate for people engaged in film and high end TV production so that it also applies to certain advertising production professionals, and (iv) amend the exemption from the requirement to self-isolate for elite sportspersons so that it applies to domestic elite sportspersons who have been to non-exempt countries or territories for the purposes of training and multinational ancillary sportspersons; (c) amendthelistofspecifiedcompetitionsinSchedule3totheprincipalRegulations,which is relevant to the exemption from the requirement to self-isolate for elite sportspersons. Passengers are not required to self-isolate on arrival in England if, during the 14 days preceding their arrival, they have only been in or transited through exempt countries or territories, or exempt parts of countries or territories. Passengers who have been in or transited through a non-exempt country or territory, or a non-exempt part of a country or territory, must self-isolate until 14 days have elapsed since the day after they last left a non-exempt country or territory, or a non-exempt part of a country or territory. The changes to Schedule A1 will not affect passengers who arrive in England before 4.00 a.m. on 26th September 2020.