The United Kingdom has said international arrivals are now required to provide negative COVID-19 test result before departure for England, adding that failure of such will attract the fine of £500.

This was made known after suspending travel from South Africa and other 11 African countries.

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, in a statement titled ‘Mandatory COVID-19 testing’ introduced to bolster border measures stated that, “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.

“Passengers will be subject to an immediate fine of £500 if they fail to comply with the new regulations on pre-departure testing.

“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,” she added.

Shapps’ statement revealed that “We already have significant measures in place to prevent imported cases of COVID-19 but with new strains of the virus developing internationally we must take further precautions.

“Taken together with the existing mandatory self-isolation period for passengers returning from high-risk countries, pre-departure tests will provide a further line of defence – helping us control the virus as we roll out the vaccine at pace over the coming weeks.”