UK Adds India To COVID-19 ‘Red List’ For Travel

Matt Hancock; pic courtesy: Daily Express

London: The United Kingdom has added India to a “red list” of countries from which most people travel to the UK is suspended in view of the new COVID variant, the UK health secretary said.

Most people who have travelled from India in the last 10 days will be denied entry from 04:00 BST on Friday 23 April, according to BBC.

Passport holders of Britain or Ireland, or people with UK residence rights, will be permitted to enter but must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.

According to Matt Hancock, there had been 103 UK cases of the India variant.

The health secretary, in a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, said the vast majority of the cases of the new variant — officially known as B.1.617 — had been linked to international travel, the BBC reported.

“After studying the data, and on a precautionary basis, we’ve made the difficult but vital decision to add India to the red list,” the health secretary was quoted as saying.

ALSO READ: India Mulls Waiving Import Duty On COVID Vaccines, Says Report