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Fresh blow for travel as Italy demands negative Covid test for UK tourists
UK visitors to Italy will have to provide a negative Covid test before being allowed into the country, Italian health authorities have confirmed.
The test must be carried out within 72 hours of arrival.
However, the Foreign Office said visitors may also have an option to obtain a test at Italian airports or at a testing facility ‘shortly after arriving in Italy’.
On its website, the Italian Health Ministry said negative tests should be presented to airlines before boarding.
Alternatively, visitors will have to take a test upon arrival ‘or within 48 hours of entering the national territory at the local health authority’.
Visitors must quarantine while waiting for the test, Italian authorites said.
The news is the latest blow for the travel industry as Italy was one of a dwindling number of countries free of travel restrictions.
Italy remains on the government’s safe travel list after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in his Thursday update that no countries would be removed from the travel corridor.
Italian authorities said it has taken the move following the resurgence of Covid cases in the UK.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office warned travellers not to use the NHS testing service but to arrange a private test.
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