The United Kingdom has said international arrivals are now required to provide negative COVID-19 test result before departure for England.

It stated that all international travellers to England, including UK nationals, have to present a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 72 hours before departure.

This followed the recent decision to temporarily suspend direct travel from South Africa and 11 other African countries to England after new evidence emerged from health authorities reporting an outbreak of a variant strain of coronavirus spreading to some local communities.

“Passengers will be subject to an immediate fine of £500 if they fail to comply with the new regulations on pre-departure testing,” the British High Commission in Nigeria disclosed in a statement on Monday.

Besides, passengers arriving from countries not on the government’s travel corridor list will still be required to self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of the test result.

The UK explained that passengers will still be required to fill in a passenger locator form and subject to national lockdown restrictions.

The UK Border Force will conduct spot checks on arrival into England to ensure that passengers are fully compliant.

The statement titled, ‘Mandatory COVID-19 testing introduced to bolster border measures,’ stated, “Passengers arriving from all international destinations will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result before departing for England to help protect against new strains of coronavirus circulating internationally.

“Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced that from next week, inbound passengers arriving by boat, plane or train will have to take a test up to 72 hours before departing the country they are in, to help protect against the new strains of coronavirus such as those seen in Denmark and South Africa.”