Latest Covid Update for Business including Kickstart latest

Thank you to the Tourism Alliance for the latest update (20/11/21)

Change In Guidance For Overseas Visitors
    
There has been an ongoing issue with the guidance for Test and Trace being different for overseas visitors  to England than for UK residents.  

UK residents who are fully vaccinated are exempt from self-isolating if contacted through Test and Trace while overseas visitors who are fully vaccinated have to self-isolate for 10 days.

This had been taken this up with DCMS and DfT by the Tourism Alliance and the Health Secretary has announced that 

“from 1 December,  anyone who’s been fully vaccinated outside the UK with a recognised vaccine will be subject to the same rules as those who are fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme. This means you will no longer have to self-isolate if you are identified as a close contact of someone who tests positive while you’re in England”

Legislation and guidance will be updated shortly to reflect changes to self-isolating rules.

New Countries Added To Vaccination List

The government has announced that, from 22nd November, the following countries will be added to the list of countries with approved proof of vaccination, which allows entry into England for fully vaccinated people:

o    Belarus
o    Bolivia
o    Democratic Republic of the Congo
o    Dominican Republic
o    Ecuador
o    Faroe Islands
o    Laos
o    Libya
o    Malawi
o    Mozambique
o    Samoa
o    Senegal
o    Vanuatu
o    Zambia
o    Zimbabwe 

More information: www.gov.uk/guidance/countries-with-approved-covid-19-vaccination-programmes-and-proof-of-vaccination

Other Red List Review Outcomes

In addition to these new countries being added to the approved vaccination list:

o    From 4am on Monday 22 November, the government will also be simplifying travel rules for all under-18s coming to England from a non-red list country or territory, who will be treated as fully vaccinated at the border, regardless of their individual vaccination status. This means they will be exempt from self-isolation requirements on arrival and will only be required to take a lateral flow test post-arrival, with a free confirmatory PCR test if they test positive.
o    From 4am on Monday 22 November, the government will remove the requirement for people to provide proof of US residency when proving their fully vaccinated status with a US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) card. They will accept the US CDC card or one of the below US state-issued certification solutions as proof of full vaccination:
    California Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record
    New York State Excelsior Pass Plus
    Washington State WA Verify

The Government will consider additional US state-led certification solutions in the future.

More information: www.gov.uk/government/speeches/international-travel-update-19-november-2021

Unclear Test Results

The Government has also updated the guidance for overseas visitors undertaking Lateral Flow and PCR tests on Day 2 of entering England. If the results of these tests are unclear, the person must self-isolate for 10 full days. However, they can choose to take another private test and if the result is negative, they can then stop self-isolating.

               

More information: www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19

Covid Pass

DHSC has updated the Guidance on the Covid Pass to say that, from today, you will be able to see see the details of your COVID-19 booster vaccination in your NHS COVID Pass.

www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-covid-pass

Kickstart Closure Dates

The guidance for the Kickstart scheme has been updated to include a number of important closure dates that businesses involved in the scheme should be aware of. These include:
o    signing and returning the grant agreement by 11:59pm on 7 January 2022
o    submitting or sending your vacancies to DWP by 11:59pm on 31 January 2022
o    starting the young person in the job on or before 31 March 2022

To help DWP process the funding, businesses need to tell them as soon as possible or by 11:59pm on 30 April 2022 that the young person has started their job.

And finally, the deadline for re applying if you were unsuccessful is midday on 17 December 2021.

www.gov.uk/guidance/kickstart-scheme-closure

R Number And Growth Rate
This week’s R Number and Growth Rate are, respectively, 0.8 to 1.0 and -2% to 0%. These are the lowest figures since 24th September

www.gov.uk/guidance/the-r-value-and-growth-rate