Just days after major British airlines wrote to the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking him to reconsider the travel restrictions imposed by the government to combat the Omicron coronavirus variant, the country has removed all 11 countries from its COVID-19 travel red list.
The 11 countries removed from the red list are Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The decision, which took effect on Wednesday, came just two days after the carriers said the travel restrictions imposed were “haphazard and disproportionate."
According to the restrictions imposed, only UK citizens or residents arriving from those nations were allowed in and then had to quarantine in a hotel. Heathrow's CEO John Holland-Kaye had called on the British government to reduce restrictions as soon as it was safe to do so, including allowing UK nationals arriving from red-list countries to isolate at home.
The decision to remove all 11 countries from the red list was taken in view of the fact that there is now community transmission of Omicron in Britain, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told parliament.
The Omicron variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong. The British government added the 11 African countries to its red list in late November.
Britain has registered more than 4,700 cases of Omicron, with 10 people hospitalised, and one person has died after contracting the variant. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday Britain was facing a "huge spike" in Omicron cases.
Britain will still require all inbound travelers to take either a PCR or a rapid lateral flow test a maximum of 48 hours before departure. The measure would be reviewed in the first week of January.
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