Travel ban: Four more countries added to Covid ‘red list’

Visitors from the Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh will be refused entry into England
Travel bans will be introduced for visitors from the Philippines, Kenya, Pakistan and Bangladesh (file photo)
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Tammy Hughes2 April 2021

Travel bans are to be introduced for visitors from the Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh, the Department of Transport has said.

The countries have been added to England’s so-called red list amid concerns about new Covid-19 variants, such as those first identified in South Africa and Brazil.

From 4am on Friday April 9, international visitors who have departed from or transited through the Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into England.

The DfT said only British and Irish citizens, or those with residence rights in the UK (including long-term visa holders), will be allowed to enter and they must stay in a Government-approved quarantine facility for 10 days.

They will also be required to arrive into a designated port.

No direct flight bans from the countries will be put in place but passengers are being advised to check their travel plans before departing for England.

During their stay, passengers will be required to take a coronavirus test on or before day two and on or after day eight, and they will not be allowed to shorten their quarantine period on receipt of a negative test result.

They will also not be able to end their managed quarantine early through the Test to Release scheme.

The latest restrictions take the total number of countries on England’s red list to 39.

Earlier this month, Mauritius and Portugal were removed from the red list while Oman, Ethiopia, Qatar and Somalia were added.

Overseas holidays are currently banned due to the UK’s coronavirus lockdown measures, but Boris Johnson plans to make an announcement on Easter Monday about lifting restrictions in England.

It comes as foreign getaway destinations are expected to be ranked under a traffic light system, with fewer restrictions for countries with low rates of infections and high vaccination take-up.

Countries will be graded either green, amber or red, according to how well they are coping with the pandemic, it has been reported.

Scientific experts have repeatedly said summer staycations should be encouraged over foreign holidays this year.

Dame Anne Johnson, professor of epidemiology at University College London, said the importation of new coronavirus variants is “one of the biggest risks” facing the UK.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday: “This is a risk where you’ve got high rates of infection. I’m for staycations.”

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