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UPDATE: Italy to lift quarantine on vaccinated arrivals from UK

Fully-vaccinated travellers arriving in Italy from the UK with a negative Covid-19 test will no longer have to undertake a 5-day quarantine from Tuesday, the health minister said.

UPDATE: Italy to lift quarantine on vaccinated arrivals from UK
Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP

Roberto Speranza tweeted Saturday that he had signed a new ordinance ending the “mini-quarantine of five days” for vaccinated arrivals from the UK.

Rome had re-imposed the quarantine for those arriving from Britain from June 21st as the Delta variant spread rapidly through the United Kingdom.

But from Tuesday all arrivals from the UK, no matter what their nationality is, won’t have to quarantine as long as they as they can produce certifications confirming that they are fully vaccinated and have tested negative, in either digital or paper format.

Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and British bases on the island of of Cyprus are all considered parts of the UK for the purposes of the new travel guidelines. 

There was some confusion about when the rule change would come into place with the Italian embassy in the UK initially tweeting that the relaxed rule of vaccinated travellers would start on September 1st, before making the correction to August 31st.

Arrivals from the UK will need to have taken either a molecular PCR test or a rapid antigenic test in the 48 hours before arriving in Italy, according to the ordinance.

Arrivals from all other “List D” countries can produce a test taken within the 72 hours prior to their arrival in the country. All arrivals must fill out a digital passenger locator form.

List D countries include the United States of America, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore; the full list is provided on the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Viaggiare Sicuri or ‘Travel Safe’ website.

The latest Viaggiare Sicuri update highlights that passengers arriving from Canada, Japan or the United States are still required to take a PCR or antigen test in the 72 hours before arriving in Italy, even if they have a Covid green pass or equivalent certification.

The new decree will remain in force until October 25, 2021.

Some coronavirus restrictions were reinstated for the region of Sicily again from Monday as the spread of the Delta variant caused concern — the first time such measures have been re-imposed on a regional level since the start of summer.

Member comments

  1. How do you think this works if you arrive on the 30 of august ? You would have to just do one day of quarantine or all five ?

    1. Unfortunately Milan health authority stating quarantine still applies for full 5 days if you have already arrived (even though wording of the decree doesn’t appear to depend upon the date you arrived, just that you showed your vaccination documents to officials when travelling).

  2. The article says that the decree is “ending “the mini-quarantine of five days” for arrivals from the UK”.
    The tweet says he is extending the restrictive measures for arrivals.
    This looks like no change.
    Is the article wrong?
    There is still no official announcement on the website of the Ministero della Salute.
    Government by Twitter is bound to confuse!

      1. Also ‘disporre/dispone’ has many contextual meanings.

        However, the official statement has now been issued: https://www.trovanorme.salute.gov.it/norme/renderNormsanPdf?anno=2021&codLeg=82596&parte=1%20&serie=null

        It makes clear that the 5 days isolation is only required of those who do not present evidence of vaccination and a negative test:
        2. In caso di mancata presentazione delle certificazioni di cui al comma 1, lettere a) e b), è fatto
        obbligo di sottoporsi a isolamento fiduciario per cinque giorni presso l’indirizzo indicato nel
        Passenger Locator Form e a un test molecolare o antigenico, effettuato per mezzo di tampone,
        alla fine di detto periodo.

  3. This end to the quarantine is great new for us UK visitors. Has anyone filled in the still required eu passenger locator form? Even with the guidance notes it’s a bit confusing. Any tips?

  4. Anyone got a suggested rationale why UK stays on 48 hours whilst everywhere else is 72 hours before arrival to do the PCR test? 48 hours is very challenging and hugely more expensive as a result. Almost impossible for flights on a Monday. With little scientific logic. The virus is now basically the same everywhere. I note the UK asks for 72 hours from Italy….

    1. Flights from the UK to Italy take as little as 1.5 hours. Flights from the US to Italy on the other hand can take up to 13 hours. Ideally you take a test as close to the arrival date as feasible, as evidently a (PCR/antigen) test only proves that you don’t have covid in that particular moment.

  5. my wife and i who are fully vaccinated have booked a flight to venice towards the end of october this year. Our son who will be 17 by then has had the first pfizer jab but the second will not be available by then. will we have to self-isolate

  6. I arrived in Umbria yesterday, 31/8, so don’t need to quarantine for 5 days. However, I believe I need to inform the Health authority in Umbria that I have arrived. But I can only find a telephone number and my Italian is not good enough. When I arrived in December I found email address for USLUmbria1 but I can’t find it this time. Help!

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EES PASSPORT CHECKS

EES border checks could undergo ‘soft launch’, UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a "soft launch" of the new EU border system – the Entry/Exit (EES) system - in October but authorities are still waiting for European Commission to confirm the start date, amid concerns over the delay of a new app.

EES border checks could undergo 'soft launch', UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a soft launch of the new EU border system – the entry/exit (EES) system – on the assumption that it will go live on October 6th, ministers told a hearing at the House of Commons European scrutiny committee this week.

But the European Commission is expected to confirm the exact launch date of the new biometric checks for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area at some point this summer, they added.

“We are very much working on a basis whereby this policy will go live on the 6th of October. It is important that we plan for that eventuality. We are expecting to hear definitively from the European Union that ‘go live’ arrangement in the summer,” Tom Pursglove, UK Minister for Legal Migration and the Border told the committee.

The parliamentary committee is conducting an inquiry on the disruptions the system will cause in the UK.

Pursglove also said that “precautionary measures” have been agreed by the EU, that will be put in place in certain circumstances after the start of EES, for example if delays at the borders exceeded a certain length of time.

Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, said that in practice this meant a “soft launch” of EES for 6 months before “a full go live”. During that soft launch EU member states and the UK could deploy flexibility measures should problems occur.

“The likelihood is, after multiple delays, that the 6th of October will proceed” and the implementation looks “very different” compared to previous scenarios considering the flexibility allowed in the first 6 months, he argued.

No details were given on what these “flexible” measures would involve however. 

READ ALSO: Your questions answered about Europe’s EES passport checks

He conceded that “a lot of work” still needs to be done but the UK “should be as ready as everybody” and “better be at front of the queue”.

App not ready

During the meeting, it also emerged that a much-anticipated app that would allow remote pre-registration of non-EU citizens subject to the checks will not be available for testing until August “at best”, prompting concerns about the EES launch date.

“You don’t need to be a sceptic about future projects to think that the provision of the app in August for going live in October is optimistic,” Opperman said.

Ministers confirmed that the app will not be ready in time for October and the committee previously stated it might be delayed until summer 2025.

The app will facilitate pre-registration, but photo and fingerprints will still have to be taken at the border in front of a guard, the committee heard.

READ ALSO: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Several MPs asked whether the entry into operation of the EES should be delayed again if technology is not ready. But Under-Secretary Opperman said the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

The main aim of EES is to increase security and to ensure that non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area for a short-term do not stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

The entry into operation of the system has already been delayed several times and there have been calls from certain travel companies and national authorities to delay it again.

Under the new scheme, non-EU/EFTA travellers who do not need a visa will have to register their biometric data (finger prints and facial images) in a database that will also record each time they enter and exit the Schengen area.

Instead of having passports manually stamped, travellers will have to scan them at self-service kiosks before crossing the border. However, fingerprints and a photo will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing and there are concerns the extra time needed will generate long queues, especially in Dover, Folkestone and St. Pancras station in London, where there are juxtaposed French and UK border checks.

Progress in preparations

Minister Pursglove also updated MPs on ongoing preparations. He said some testing of the system will take place within days, 5 kiosks have been installed at St. Pancras station and are available for testing. “You are beginning to see the physical infrastructure appear,” he said.

Kiosks and extra lanes are also being created at the port Dover and it was agreed with the EU passengers travelling by coach will be checked away from the Eastern dock, where controls usually take place, allowing to gain space. The vehicles will then sealed and drive on the ferries.

MPs also discussed the infrastructure cost linked to the introduction of the EES. Opperman said all EU countries will have to make “huge investments” in their ports. In the UK, he argued, this will help “address problems that have existed for some time”. Because of this “massive investment”, in a few years time “Dover will be totally transformed,” he said.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

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