UK Excludes Seven Countries from COVID-19 Travel Red List

In a written statement to the Parliament published by the British Government yesterday, 29^th of October, 2021, it was announced that the government has concluded to remove seven countries from the Red List. The new development, which has removed Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Columbia, Haiti, and Venezuela from the UK’s COVID-19 red list nations, came after the government carried out an extended review of the red list regions under its new and simplified system of international travel.

According to reports, the removal of the above-mentioned countries from the UK’s red list will officially come into effect starting from the early hours of Monday, the 1st of November, 2021.

Understandably, the dominance of Delta in most countries across the world has played a major role in the decision by the government.  This way, the UK government is convinced that the risk of known alternatives coming into the UK has significantly taken a low turn.

However, with this update largely informed by the UK Health Security Agency’s assessment, further preventive measures will be put in place to ensure the safety of and protection of public health. This, of course, means that an unwavering stance on the existing list of red zone countries will still be maintained. The UK government has therefore averred its determination to include more countries on the red list at any point that the need to do so arises.

In addition to the exclusion of Haiti, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama from the COVID-19 travel red list is the expansion of the United Kingdom’s inbound vaccination policy.

Additional Changes to the Inbound Vaccination Policy

The new change to the inbound vaccination policy, which will also commence by 4 in the morning on Monday the 1st of November 2021, is billed to cover over 30 countries while also accommodating eligible fully vaccinated travelers who have not visited any red list country in no less than 10 days before coming into the UK.

Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Botswana, Belize, Angola, Cambodia, Argentina, Djibouti, Armenia, Guyana, Eswatini, Honduras, Lebanon, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Panama, Peru, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, and Uruguay are the 30 countries to benefit from the new inbound vaccination policy expansion.

The expansion also extends to include all the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies of Britain that were formerly eligible to partake of the fully vaccinated travel as entrenched in the United Kingdom’s Overseas vaccination policy.

In total, the UK’s policy on inbound vaccination currently includes more than 135 countries and territories around the world as well as the eligible travelers who have been fully vaccinated while under 18 residents in these countries are now to be given the same preference and treated like the people vaccinated in the United Kingdom.

Similarly, travelers who have not been in a red list region in 10 days before arriving in the UK who are qualified as vaccinated passengers will no longer be required to undergo a pre-departure test. This set of passengers will also not be mandated to self-isolate or go through a post-arrival test when they come into the UK.