British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests will be scrapped for people arriving in the United Kingdom (UK) in another overhaul of COVID-19 testing rules from Friday. PCR test detects genetic material from a specific organism, such as a virus.
Boris Johnson imposed tougher testing requirements on travellers when Omicron emerged in November as he battled to halt the spread of the variant first detected in South Africa. But ministers agreed to axe these curbs and change the rules back to how they were before Omicron surged following a meeting of the Government’s COVID-O committee yesterday. British Prime Minister told MPs that the requirement for pre-departure tests for those arriving in the UK would be axed from 4am on Friday.