Introduce day eight PCR tests for all returning travellers to combat omicron, Sage urges No 10

Sage scientists are advising the Government to introduce day eight PCR testing for all arrivals to the UK to counter the omicron variant, leaked minutes have revealed.

They have told the Government that the addition of day five or day eight tests to the current day two PCR tests would mean that significantly more cases would be detected if they entered the UK.

They have also advised that pre-departure testing - scrapped more than a month ago - could also be a "valuable" weapon in preventing the importation of the new variant.

Boris Johnson has so far resisted calls to go beyond the measures announced Saturday requiring all travellers to the UK to self-isolate until they have tested negative for Covid after taking a PCR swab on or before day two of their arrival.

On Tuesday, Yvette Cooper, Labour’s new shadow home secretary, called for the reintroduction of pre-departure tests “immediately” to help identify and contain the spread of the omicron variant.

Watch: UK Will Now Require PCR Tests for International Travelers Upon Arrival

Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford, the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, also wrote to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, urging him to reinstate PCR tests for all travellers on day eight of their arrival in the UK.

The Sage minutes, leaked to the BBC from a meeting on Monday, show that the scientists said Covid testing for travellers returning to the UK would be "valuable".

They also said the Government's current policy of a single PCR test within two days of arrival would "identify significantly fewer cases" than an additional test on either day five or day eight.

Pre-departure testing and PCR tests on day two for vaccinated travellers were scrapped before the October half-term by the Government as it reopened foreign travel.

The scientists also warned that the impact of the omicron variant on the UK is "highly uncertain" but may require a "very stringent response", government advisers have said.

They said officials should prepare now for a "potentially significant" wave of infections while data on the variant is collected and analysed.

The Government said it has already put in place measures to protect public health since omicron was first identified, including travel restrictions on countries in southern Africa, stronger rules on self-isolation for close contacts and a new mandate on face coverings in England.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "On top of this we are speeding up our vaccination programme by offering all adults in England a booster jab by the end of January, halving the gap between second doses and boosters, and offering second jabs to 12-15 year olds.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary."

Watch: Londoners welcome ‘cautious’ mask mandate