Brits given glimmer of hope for travel to Europe as Sajid Javid plans for NHS app allows tourists to bypass quarantine
SAJID Javid is planning to unveil a new NHS app which could allow Brits to travel to Europe this summer.
Tourists could be allowed to bypass quarantine if they can prove they are double jabbed, show a negative test before departure or provide evidence they have caught the bug in the past 180 days.
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It comes after the EU announced its Green Pass scheme set to launch next month, which permits travel within the bloc if tourists can prove vaccination status or provide a negative test.
A senior industry source told the : "We are technically ready to be integrated into the EU database that will recognise your digital NHS signature and allow you to demonstrate your Covid status.
"There are some glitches with private test providers struggling to register their tests quickly enough but, once those are resolved, all that is required is for the EU to allow non-EU countries to be integrated."
A spokesperson for the EU Commission told the newspaper that talks with Westminster officials on allowing Brits onto the Green Pass scheme were "progressing well" and "going in the right direction".
The NHS App - which is separate from the Contact Tracing app - already allows Brits to show proof that they are double vaccinated.
Mr Javid, who became health secretary on Saturday, yesterday vowed that the UK would return normal "as soon as possible" in a sharp contrast to his predecessor Matt Hancock.
He pledged to unlock the country "irreversibly" on July 19 - the date that all Covid restrictions will end.
Meanwhile, Angela Merkel yesterday launched a campaign to block Brits from travelling to Europe amid concern over the spread of the Delta variant.
The German Chancellor has banned all travel from the UK into Germany - and encouraged other European countries to follow suit.
Spain and Greece are currently allowing Brits to cross the border so long as they show proof of vaccination or a negative test, while Portugal also permits travel for fully-jabbed adults until July 11.
All summer travel plans will depend on whether ministers expand the Green List where Brits can travel without having to quarantine on their return to the UK.
Currently just twelve countries have made the list - many of which ask for Brits to self-isolate on arrival.
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The Department for Transport is currently working on plans to allow double-jabbed Brits to travel abroad by early August, the Telegraph reports.
But transport secretary Grant Shapps insisted that ministers would need "time"; to work through the policy.
Mr Shapps acknowledged that it could be complicated by the rise in cases in the UK, which has raised concern in Europe.