All remaining countries removed from UK 's travel 'red list '
The government has removed all remaining countries from the UK 's travel 'red list ', following a review of the latest risk assessment from the UK Health Security Agency.
Passengers travelling from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe will no longer have to stay in a managed quarantine hotel when arriving in England
The decision was made following the spread of Omicron cases throughout the world, which rendered the travel red list less effective in slowing the importation of the variant from abroad.
All vaccinated passengers arriving in the UK must continue to take a pre-departure PCR test 48 hours before their journey and another on or before day two, as well as self-isolating until they receive a negative result.
Unvaccinated passengers are required to take a pre-departure test, PCR tests on day two and eight, and self-isolate for 10 days.
Erin Henwood, policy advisor at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “Removing all remaining countries from the travel red list is a sensible and proportionate step to take given that Omicron is already well-established in the UK and concern about imported cases has dissipated.
“These restrictions threatened to slow down the pace of recovery in the aviation and travel sectors, which have been significantly curtailed by numerous restrictions during the pandemic.
“As economic activity picks up across the region, demonstrated in our latest Quarterly Business Report, it is important that the hundreds of thousands of jobs in these sectors are not lost due to travel restrictions.
“Whilst ongoing PCR testing for all passengers is a crucial measure to prevent further spread of the virus, consumer demand may be driven downwards if action is not taken to address the additional cost and administrative burden created by the testing requirements.
“In our recently published briefing paper, 'Plan B - A Blueprint for Business Support ', we have called upon the Government to collaborate with providers of PCR testing to reduce the cost associated with taking these tests to boost customer activity and support these crucial sectors. ”
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