Final countries removed from UK 's red travel list

The final seven countries on the UK 's red travel list have been removed from today.

Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela were removed from the list as of 4am this morning - ending the need for people to quarantine in a hotel.

Passengers returning from red list countries previously had to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel on arrival in the UK - a requirement that came with a cost of £2,285 for adults.

However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said the red list category will remain in place as a “precautionary measure to protect public health ” and the government is “prepared to add countries and territories back if needed, as the UK's first line of defence ”.

Raj Kandola, head of policy at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “We welcome the Government 's decision to remove all countries from the UK travel red list -a move that will offer a timely boost to the wider travel industry.

“With Christmas just around the corner, this should offer passengers greater confidence to start booking holidays and planning business trips.

“Clearly, we need to be wary of the threat of new variants of Covid-19 emerging, so we would encourage the Government to work closely with their international counterparts and create a framework which will minimise this risk and also offers customers the extra reassurance they need for planning overseas journeys. ”