All 11 countries removed from travel red list

All 11 countries on the UK's travel red list will be removed from 4am on Wednesday.

Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe were added to the list in November following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

However, health secretary Savid Javid said the travel restrictions are no longer necessary given Omicron's prevalence in the UK.

He told parliament: "Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad."

UK arrivals from red list countries had been required to self-isolate in government-approved hotels for 10 days at their own expense.

Under the new rules all travellers to the UK, aged 12 and over, have to show proof of a negative PCR or lateral flow test taken in the two days before departure, even if they are fully vaccinated. On arrival all travellers to the UK must self-isolate until they receive the result from a pre-booked PCR test from a government-approved administrator.

Joss Croft, CEO of UKinbound, said: "We are pleased that all 11 countries are to be removed from the red list, however the UK testing requirements for vaccinated international arrivals continue to stifle businesses across the inbound tourism industry, which employs over 500,000 Brits.

"The health secretary acknowledged that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK, that it is fast becoming the dominant variant and that the justification for our travel restrictions are minimal. This negates the need for PCR testing and sequencing. The government needs to further act on these comments and immediately scrap day two PCR tests and quarantine on arrival."

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