I have spent the last 4 weeks in England and can confirm that life here is now almost completely normal.
All businesses (well, the ones which have survived the lockdowns) are now fully functional again and almost all have dispensed with capacity controls and social distancing. There is no legal requirement in England to wear a face mask, except for London Transport and enforcement of this seems to be almost completely non-existent. I do still see people wearing masks in shops and on public transport, but this is no more that around 10-15% of people on average and nobody is attempting to force anyone to wear one if they don’t choose to.
The entry requirements to the UK are still rather irksome. No pre-departure test is required, but all arriving passengers are still forced to fill out a Passenger Locator Form, as well as book and pay for a covid test which must be taken on day 2 after arrival. I was not asked to prove my vaccination status or provide my PLF on arrival at Harwich Port and regarded the process as a minor irritation rather than a deal breaker.
If you are unvaccinated, however, the entry requirements remain quite prohibitive. Unvaccinated arrivals are forced to book and pay for two post-arrival tests, as well as self-isolating for 10 days. However, this is where the two-tier society ends, at least for the moment. As far as I can tell, nobody anywhere is being asked to prove their vaccination status, apart from when they enter the country. This makes a refreshing change from other European countries where I have spent time in the last few months.
Overall, if you can put up with the pretty easily surmountable obstacles on entry (and of course the notorious British weather), England is actually not a bad place to be at the moment.
If you are in the UK or thinking of visiting, please visit the UK Forum to share you thoughts, questions and experiences.
