According to The Telegraph, Lord Bethell indicated to test providers at a meeting last Friday (27 August) that the tests are unlikely to be scrapped despite calls from Tory MPs for them to be axed.
Currently, all UK arrivals have to take at least one PCR test, which on average cost more than £70, on or before day two of their return.
It comes amid evidence that only four out of every 1,000 fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning to the UK tested positive for Covid-19 in July.
However, Lord Bethell’s intervention suggests government scientists and the Department of Health and Social Care will oppose calls for any relaxation of the current testing regime when it comes up for review.
The UK government’s taskforce on global travel, headed by transport secretary Grant Shapps and health secretary Sajid Javid, is committed to a review of the traffic lights system and testing by 1 October, the third of three "checkpoint" reviews built into the system.
