Publication - Advice and guidance
Coronavirus (COVID-19): international travel and managed isolation (quarantine)
Quarantine rules and information on the process for people entering Scotland.
Overview
By completing managed quarantine you can play your part in ensuring we keep people safe and stop COVID-19 spreading.
To keep people as safe as possible, we review international travel and managed isolation requirements regularly. The situation is rapidly evolving worldwide, so it is important that you check all guidance before you travel.
This guidance explains what you must do if you need to enter managed isolation, need to self-isolate and details of any exemptions that exist.
All country exemptions (sometimes known as ‘travel corridors’) have been suspended until further notice.
Managed Isolation
If you arrive directly in Scotland from any country outside the Common Travel Area, you must quarantine for 10 days and have a valid Managed Quarantine Facility booked prior to departure (unless exempt). The Common Travel area is the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.
If you arrive elsewhere in the Common Travel Area with the intention to travel on to Scotland and have travelled through an acute risk country or territory in the 10 days before you arrived, you must quarantine and have a valid Managed Quarantine Facility booked prior to departure (unless exempt). If arriving in England, you will quarantine at your point of entry before you can travel on to your final destination. If arriving elsewhere in the CTA you are currently able to travel on to Scotland where you must enter your pre-booked Managed Quarantine Facility.
If you arrive in Scotland from within the Common Travel Area, but have travelled through a non-acute risk country or territory in the 10 days before you arrive in Scotland, you must self-isolate at home or at accommodation you specify on your Passenger Locator Form, unless you have an exemption. In addition, you must book a testing package and take tests on days 2 and day 8 of your self-isolation period.
The requirements to self-isolate (whether in a Managed Quarantine Facility or at home) and to undertake pre-arranged testing do not apply if you have only travelled within the Common Travel Area in the 10 days before arriving in Scotland.
|
|
Amber (non-acute) list country |
Red (acute) list country |
|---|---|---|
|
Arrived directly into Scotland from outwith Common Travel Area |
Book and isolate at managed accommodation at port of arrival in Scotland |
Book and isolate at managed accommodation at port of arrival in Scotland |
|
Arrived into the rest of the UK in order to travel on to Scotland |
Book tests and isolate at single location, e.g. home address, after travelling directly there |
Book and isolate at managed accommodation at port of arrival in UK |
|
Arrived into RoI in order to travel on to Scotland |
Book tests and isolate at single location, e.g. home address, after travelling directly there |
Book and isolate at managed accommodation at port of arrival in Scotland |
|
Arrived directly into Scotland from elsewhere in the Common Travel Area – no travel outside Common Travel Area in the last 10 days |
no self-isolation or testing requirements |
|
- Find out more in managed isolation: what you must do
Before departure you must:
- provide a negative Coronavirus test result taken in the 3 days before you start your journey to Scotland
- book and pay for managed isolation in a quarantine hotel for at least 10 days from the point of arrival. If you are experiencing any difficulty booking through the booking portal, please ring +44 1274 726424
- complete an online passenger locator form before travelling, and provide contact details, travel details and the address of your final destination. You will need to enter the booking reference for your managed isolation package
- be tested on day 2 and day 8 of your 10 day managed isolation
- you may require to remain in managed isolation for a longer period should you test positive
- if you require to self-isolate at your accommodation you must book tests required prior to travel and enter the test details on your online passenger locator form
- you must at all times follow the national rules on Coronavirus in Scotland
It is an offence to fail to have a pre-departure test, fail to complete a Passenger Locator Form, fail to possess a managed isolation package or testing package; fail to undertake the required testing; fail to enter at designated ports and to leave the managed isolation you are required to book. Non-compliance means you are breaking the law, and you could be fined. More importantly, failure to comply means you are risking both your own health and the health of other people.
Arrival in Scotland
If you are required to enter managed isolation in Scotland you can only arrive at certain ports of entry which are:-
- Aberdeen Airport,
- Edinburgh Airport,
- Glasgow Airport.
Other ports of entry may be added in future. It is your responsibility to ensure that arrive at one of the ports of entry. If you are required to enter managed quarantine and do not arrive at one of the ports of entry you are committing an offence and could be fined.
Self-isolate
If you travel to Scotland from within the CTA, but have not been in a country on the acute risk country list in the 10 days before your arrival, then you must self-isolate at your accommodation and must book a testing package.
Exemptions
There are some limited exemptions from managed isolation. You may still be required to self-isolate when you are not doing the essential activity the exemption allows.
You can also read more on general Coronavirus in Scotland guidance and also visit NHSinform.