Johnson set to push for quarantine-free 'green channel' with the US at G7

BRITAIN’S prime minister Boris Johnson is said to be lobbying for a quarantine-free air corridor with the US and is expected to raise the idea with president Joe Biden at the upcoming G7 summit in Cornwall.

Johnson is said to be pushing for a “green channel” for fully vaccinated people of both countries. Under one set of proposals, discussed with officials in Washington and Whitehall, people from the US who had received both the jabs of Covid-19 will not have to self-isolate on arrival here, despite the US being on the amber list.

The UK is hoping for the same exemptions for fully-vaccinated Britons who want to holiday in the US. The deal, if it goes through, will be a diplomatic coup and a first-of-its-kind arrangement allowing vaccinated travellers preferential treatment by the UK.

However, officials involved in the talks fear that the US administration, whose official policy is still to discourage all international travel, has reservations about a bilateral deal as US officials have earlier made clear to their British counterparts in Washington that any immediate deal of such nature is unlikely.

Senior members of the Biden administration reportedly have made it clear to the UK ministers that privileges to British travellers could leave the president vulnerable to international criticism and send the wrong message to the international community.

Meanwhile, airlines are set to resume transatlantic flights between the UK and the US ahead of Britain’s next travel update on June 7, assuming that the US will be added to the green list, implying no quarantine on return for Britons who want to travel to the US with a negative Covid test needed on arrival.