England’s Transport Minister, Grant Shapps, on Thursday announced the removal of 47 countries from the Government’s international travel ‘red list’.
South Africa, Brazil and Mexico come off the red list, which requires travelers to quarantine in an approved hotel at their cost for 10 full days.
Shapps said changes coming into force from 4am on Monday October 11, will mean just seven nations remain on the banned list.
UPDATE: From Monday (11th Oct)
I’ll be cutting 47 destinations from our red list – including South Africa, with just 7 countries and territories remaining
– all others will be included in the “rest of world” category
[1/3]
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 7, 2021
“I’m also making changes so travelers visiting England have fewer entry requirements, by recognizing those with fully-vax status from 37 new countries and territories including India, Turkey and Ghana, treating them the same as UK fully vax passengers,” he said.
The measures announced today mark the next step as we continue to open up travel
and provide stability for passengers
and industry
while remaining on track to keep travel open for good. [3/3]
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 7, 2021
The move will open up travel between the UK and dozens of long-haul destinations.
Shapps also said he is easing travel rules to allow more fully-vaccinated tourists from abroad to visit the UK.
Arrivals from 37 more destinations will have their vaccination status certificates recognized, meaning they can avoid more expensive post-arrival testing requirements.
Vaccinated travellers from Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey will be treated the same as returning fully-vaccinated UK residents so long as they have not visited a red-list country in the 10 days before arriving in England.
All arrivals will still complete a passenger locator form.
Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic remain on the red list.
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