UK to Slash International Travel ‘Red List’ to Nine Countries

The quarantine will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travellers from 45 other countries from later in October.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, will open up more countries for hotel quarantine-free travel later this week, the Sunday Telegraph reported, saying the UK’s “red list” of destinations would be slashed to nine from 54.

Fully vaccinated arrivals from countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa will no longer have to quarantine in a government-designated hotel for 10 days when they get to England from later in October.

The changes are to be announced on Thursday and are likely to result in a surge of bookings, boosting airlines and travel companies that have been brought to their knees during the pandemic.

The UK’s hotel quarantine policy for higher risk countries costs £2,285 an adult, deterring global travel.

The UK is already planning to relax its travel rules from 4 October by scrapping its amber list for medium-risk destinations and no longer requiring fully vaccinated passengers to take a Covid-19 test before they arrive in the country from places, not on the red list.

The government has said that from later in October, arrivals in England will no longer have to take a PCR test two days after arrival and can instead opt for the cheaper lateral flow test.

Source: The Guardian