Given there is now community transmission of Omicron in Britain, the British government will remove all 11 nations off its COVID-19 travel red list as of Wednesday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid informed parliament.
Southern Africa and Hong Kong were the first places where the novel Omicron variety was discovered. Since late November, the British government has added 11 African countries to its red list, limiting access to flights from those countries to UK citizens or residents who must then quarantine at a hotel.
“Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely over the world,” Javid added, “the travel red list is less helpful in preventing Omicron incursion from abroad.”
“While we will keep our temporary testing mechanisms in place for international travel, all 11 nations will be removed from the travel red list as of 4 a.m. tomorrow morning.”
Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are among the 11 countries that will be removed from the list.
FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS
The administration had been pushed by the travel industry to ease restrictions as quickly as feasible. Heathrow Airport in London stated last week that it was witnessing a significant number of business travelers cancel their flights due to fears of being detained overseas due to changing restrictions.
All inbound visitors to the United Kingdom will still be required to take a PCR or a rapid lateral flow test at least 48 hours before departure.
These testing measures will be evaluated in the first week of January, according to Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps.
“As always, we keep all of our travel controls under review,” he added on Twitter, “and we may impose more limitations if there is a need to do so to protect public health.”
Arrivals from countries on the red list have had to spend thousands of pounds to stay in quarantine hotels certified by the government. Many people have gone to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the costs and circumstances of their stay, including posting photos of unappealing meals.
Due to a scarcity of available accommodations, some persons were stranded abroad, waiting for space in quarantine hotels to become available.
