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Covid: UK travel testing delay 'to help out business'

Rule requiring travellers to show negative test to come into force on Monday, not Friday as planned
The government has suggested it is delaying the requirement for travellers to England to have a negative coronavirus test to soften the impact of the move on businesses.
Late on Wednesday night, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said the new rule would come into force on Monday at 4am instead of Friday as planned.
Asked to explain the delay for a move that was signalled last week, the safeguarding minister, Victoria Akins, said it was for economic reasons. Speaking to Sky News, she said: “There’s a very delicate balancing act here between controlling the virus but also ensuring that we are not putting too much of a burden on the economy.”
She added: “We have listened to the concerns that many people had about whether the message has quite got through to people who are making the flights over the weekend, and we have acted in relation to those concerns.”
Shapps also said the delay was aimed at giving international travellers more time to prepare.
https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1349491691133300745
Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP who chairs the home affairs select committee, said the latest delay on a measure to restrict the spread of the virus was “truly shocking”.
In a tweet, she claimed the real reason for the delay was a failure to publish the guidance in time.
https://twitter.com/YvetteCooperMP/status/1349475232923398144
Under the new requirement, travellers will need to present proof of a negative test result to their carrier on boarding, while UK Border Force will conduct spot-checks on arrivals. New arrivals who flout the rules will face a minimum £500 fine, while the operator who transported them will also be fined. Passengers will still have to quarantine for 10 days regardless of their test results.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s deputy first minister, John Swinney, said that rules requiring travellers arriving in the country to have a negative coronavirus test were in force in Scotland.
In an interview on BBC Breakfast he said: “The position in Scotland is that those restrictions are in place and we want to see people following those restrictions to make sure that we minimise the risk.” When asked if people had to have a test before they travelled to Scotland, he replied: “Yes,” and agreed that the restrictions applied now.
Atkins also appeared to confirm that the government is about to ban flights from Brazil over concerns about a new strain of the virus detected there.
Asked why travel from Brazil had not been banned already, she said: “It takes a little bit of time what we need to ensure is that when we make these very very important decisions that have a huge impact on people’s personal lives but also on businesses and so on. We’ve got to just have a little bit of time to let that fit in and to settle in.”
On Wednesday, Boris Johnson, suggested the government was preparing to ban travellers from Brazil, with an announcement expected on Thursday afternoon.
Answering questions from Cooper at the liaison committee, he said: “We are putting in extra measures to ensure that people coming from Brazil are checked: and indeed stopping people coming from Brazil.”
Atkins told Sky said: “The prime minister was clear that measures will be taken. We have acted decisively in the past with both the Denmark and the South African variants. I wouldn’t want to speculate further at this stage.”
source: Matthew Weaver
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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