Now UK Visitors To Italy MUST Take COVID-19 Test

Italy has introduced compulsory coronavirus testing for UK visitors.

Minister of health Roberto Speranza announced that arrivals from European countries ‘at greater risk for Covid-19’ – such as the UK, France and Spain – must provide evidence of a negative test taken in the 72 hours prior to travel.

Visitors unable to provide proof of a negative result at the border have to take a test in Italy.

Some airports offer free tests, while others may cost around £11. Travellers will not be allowed to leave until they have received their results.

Anyone who tests positive is quarantined until two consecutive negative results are recorded.

Italy trialled a coronavirus swab test in July that can give results in as little as 15 minutes.

Health chiefs in Rome hope the rapid diagnostic test, made by South Korean firm SD Biosensor, will be used at airports to screen tourists for the infection.

It has already been used on 1,000 people in the northern region of Veneto giving an incorrect result twice, in comparison to the standard swab test.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: ‘The time spent in quarantine can vary greatly from a few days to several weeks. Travellers should be prepared for this eventuality.’

Visitors who arrive at airports where testing is not available are required to self-isolate and take a test at an alternative facility within 48 hours.

Fines can be issues to people who do not comply.

Italy is one of the most popular foreign destinations which UK holidaymakers can still visit without needing to isolate for 14 days when they return.

But it could lose its exemption when Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces the weekly update to the list of exempt locations at 5pm on Thursday.

Italy is currently recording a seven-day rate of 31.6 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.

Changes could also be made in relation to Greece.

The country as a whole has a rate of 23.0, but the Government has previously introduced quarantine requirement for specific islands.

A rate of 20 is the threshold above which ministers consider triggering quarantine conditions.

Figures have been calculated by the PA news agency based on data collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The news from Italy comes as five Greek islands have been added to the Government’s quarantine exemption list, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.

Arrivals in England from Lesvos, Santorini, Serifos, Tinos and Zakynthos – also known as Zante – will no longer have to self-isolate for 14 days from 4am on Saturday following a decrease in cases.

No countries are being removed from the travel corridor list.