UK authorities ease COVID testing requirements amid surge
By DANICA KIRKA and MIKE CORDER
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Health authorities across the U.K. have simplified COVID-19 testing requirements in a move designed to cut isolation times for many people. It may also ease the staffing shortages that are hitting public services from hospitals to garbage collection amid an omicron-fueled surge in infections. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that pre-departure tests for people traveling to England will no longer be required because the omicron variant is so prevalent that travel restrictions meant to contain its spread are now meaningless. The tests had discouraged people from traveling overseas for fear they would get stuck abroad.