Less Effective In Blocking Omicron Variants, UK Removes COVID-19 Travel Red List Starting Today

Illustration of Terminal 5 Heathrow International Airport, England. (Unsplash/Nick Fewings)

JAKARTA - The UK government will remove all countries from its COVID-19 travel red list, 11 in total, starting Wednesday due to community transmission of the Omicron variant in the UK, Health Minister Sajid Javid told parliament.

The Omicron variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong. The British government added 11 African countries to its red list from late November, meaning only British nationals or residents arriving from those countries, are allowed in and then must be quarantined in a hotel.

"There is now community transmission of the Omicron variant in the UK and this variant has spread so widely around the world, the current travel red list is less effective in slowing down the Omicron invasion from overseas," Javid said.

"We will remove all 11 countries from the travel red list effective starting at 4 a.m. tomorrow (this Wednesday)," he continued

The 11 countries that will be removed are Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The UK has registered more than 4.700 cases of Omicron, with 10 people hospitalized, and one person has died after contracting the variant. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that Britain faced a "major spike" in the Omicron case.

To note, travel companies have urged the government to ease the restrictions as soon as possible. London's Heathrow Airport said last week it saw a high rate of cancellations of business travelers due to concerns over restrictions.

The UK will still require all inbound travelers to have a PCR or rapid lateral flow test a maximum of 48 hours before departure, a measure Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said would be reviewed in the first week of January.