The Covid situation in the UK is on track to enable the resumption
of foreign travel next month, according to transport secretary Grant Shapps.
Shapps made the comment in
an interview this morning with Sky News and added that the list of countries which would
be classified as green under the proposed traffic-light system, which would not
require travellers to quarantine on their return, would be announced in the next fortnight.
International travel from the UK is currently banned,
except for a limited number of exemptions, until at least 17 May.
Shapps said that the decision on the 'green' countries would be based on their “rates of vaccination, the rates of coronavirus
in that country, how many concerns there are about variations and mutations and
how accurate we believe the reporting to be, which is absolutely essential”.
The transport secretary also announced that the government
planned to use the NHS app as proof of vaccination and testing.
He said, “I can confirm we are working on a NHS application - the
NHS app that is used for people when they book appointments with the NHS - to
show that you have had a vaccine or that
you have had testing. I am working with partners across the
world to make sure that that system can be internationally recognised.”