Boris Johnson has said that fully vaccinated visitors entering England will no longer require Covid tests.

Speaking at a visit to the Academic Centre, Milton Keynes Hospital, the Prime Minister told broadcasters: “We have, thanks to the tough decisions, the big calls that we made… the most open economy and society in Europe.

“And although we have to be cautious, we are now moving through the Omicron wave, and you can see the figures are starting to get better.

“So what we’re doing on travel, to show that this country is open for business, open for travellers, you will see changes so that people arriving no longer have to take tests if they have been vaccinated, if they have been double vaccinated.”

This comes as Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation’s special envoy for Covid-19, told Sky News: “The end is in sight, but how long is it going to take to get there? What sort of difficulties will we face on the way? Those are the questions that none of us can answer because this virus continues to give us challenges and surprises.”

He added: “It’s as though we’re just passing the halfway mark in a marathon and we can see that yes, there is an end and fast runners are getting through ahead of us.

“But we’ve still got a long, long way to trudge and it’s going to be tough.”

Boris Johnson has said by making this move it highlights that Britain is “moving through the Omicron wave”.

This week Covid passports and the mandatory face masks in public settings are being scrapped in England. As well as the guidance for those able to work from home.

Fully vaccinated arrivals currently must currently pre-book and take a post-arrival test from a private supplier.

This can be a lateral flow test, which typically costs around £19.

Arrivals who are not fully vaccinated must take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival PCR tests, which are more expensive than the lateral flow version.

They must also self-isolate for 10 days.