Travel Red List

Grant Shapps Excerpts

Tuesday 14th December 2021 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

The Government have conducted a review of the temporary and precautionary international travel measures introduced to slow the spread of the new covid-19 omicron variant.

From 4 am on Wednesday 15 December, all 11 remaining countries and territories will be removed from the red list. As such, passengers arriving from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, will not have to stay in a managed quarantine hotel on arrival in England from this date. As omicron cases rise in the UK and in countries around the world, the travel red list is less effective in slowing the incursion of the variant from abroad and these temporary measures are no longer proportionate.

While all countries have been removed, the red list policy remains in place alongside the managed quarantine service policy, acting as a crucial line of defence against the importation of variants of concern.

The additional temporary testing measures for passengers taken in response to omicron also remain in place. The Government recognise the impact that these temporary health measures have on the travel and aviation industry, and they will be reviewed again in the first week of January.

[HCWS482]