England lifts quarantine requirement for vaccinated EU, U.S. citizens
28 July 2021
Fully vaccinated travelers from the European Union and the U.S. will no longer need to quarantine when arriving in England, effective Aug. 2 at 4 a.m. local time, the U.K. government announced Wednesday.
Why it matters: It's a reflection of the British government's confidence in its highly successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout, despite the spread of the Delta variant. The move stands in stark contrast to the Biden administration's continued refusal to lift restrictions for travelers from the U.K. and Europe.
- The rule applies to fully vaccinated people inoculated with a U.S. Food and Drug Administration or European Medicines Agency approved vaccine, which include Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.
- It's not yet clear whether the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland intend to follow suit.
Driving the news: The rule change comes amid pressure from the travel industry to loosen rules and allow visitors to the country, per BBC.
- "It's especially good news for our airlines who need to fill their seats across the Atlantic," travel consultancy boss Paul Charles told the BBC. "The news will encourage millions of extra visitors into the U.K. at a time when the sector badly needs them."
- Travelers are still required to take tests before they arrive and on the second day when they land.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.