Britons travelling to Italy will need to provide proof of negative Covid test

A coronavirus testing area at Leonardo da Vinci airport in Fiumicino, near Rome 

Credit: Shutterstock

Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

Britons travelling to Italy will have to prove that they are clear of Covid-19 before being allowed into the country.

Anyone coming from the UK will have to provide a Covid test certificate with a negative result taken no more than 72 hours before their arrival in Italy.

The move follows a surge in Covid cases in Britain to 136.6 per 100,000 of the population, compared with Italy’s 31.6 per 100,000.

Some Italian airports will offer a free test upon arrival or at another Italian test centre, but the Foreign Office warned: "If you test positive within Italy, you will be required to quarantine. The time spent in quarantine can vary greatly, from a few days to several weeks. Travellers should be prepared for this eventuality."

Travellers from Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic will also face tests on arrival in Italy.

It came as the Greek islands of Santorini and Zante are to be opened up for quarantine-free travel after Covid-19 levels dropped.

They are among five Greek islands including Lesbos, Tinos and Serifos restored to the UK Government’s "green" list after quarantine was reimposed a month ago following outbreaks of Covid and cases of holidaymakers bringing the disease back to Britain (see video below).

Italy and Sweden, whose rising virus rates had raised fears of a travel ban, remain on the "green" list, meaning travellers returning from them to the UK do not have to quarantine for 14 days.

Crete, where the Covid infection rate remains relatively high, stays on the quarantine list, requiring returning travellers to self-isolate for 14 days.

Mainland Greece, however, is quarantine-free for UK holidaymakers and will be joined by the five islands from 4am on Saturday.

Zante, known as a party capital for young holidaymakers, was at the centre of a major Covid outbreak in the summer when at least 16 people tested positive following a Tui flight to Cardiff, where it was claimed passengers were not following coronavirus rules.

TUI and Jet2 cancelled holidays to the Greek islands when the new quarantine rules were imposed.