UK removes all countries from its Covid-19 travel red list
Reuters.- Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the British government will remove 11 countries from its COVID-19 travel red list tomorrow, starting Wednesday, as community transmission of the micron is now occurring in the United Kingdom.
The Omicron variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong. The British government added 11 African countries to its red list from the end of November. This means that only UK citizens or residents of those countries are allowed to enter and must be quarantined in a hotel.
“Now that there is community transmission of Micron in the UK and Micron has spread so widely around the world, the Travel Red List is less effective in preventing infiltration of Micron from abroad,” Javid said. “We will remove 11 countries from the red list of travel starting at 4 am tomorrow.”
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The 11 countries to be wiped out are Angola, Botswana, Essuantini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
All travelers arriving in the UK will continue to undergo PCR testing or antigen testing A maximum of 48 hours before departure, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said a measure would be reviewed in the first week of January.
Those coming from countries on the Red List have had to pay thousands of pounds to pass the quarantine in hotels authorized by the government. Many people have complained on social media about the cost and conditions of their stay.
Due to paucity of available rooms some people are stuck in waiting for available accommodation in hotels abroad also.
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