End of Omicron Red List: 11 African Nations Dropped
UK Government says it’s time to cut the red‑list ties. Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced in Parliament that all 11 countries previously flagged on the Covid‑19 travel red list will be removed starting Wednesday, 15 Dec. Since Omicron is now circulating everywhere—including in Britain—the effort to block it from abroad isn’t doing the trick.
The Move Explained
Javid pointed out that the new Omicron strain, first spotted in southern Africa and Hong Kong, had spread so far that a red list would only bring a knock‑on – if not a full stop. With community transmission already present in the UK, a list that forces quarantining in hotels for anyone coming from those countries isn’t very effective anymore.
What to Expect
From 4 a.m. tomorrow onward, the stragglers will no longer be boxed into hotel quarantine spikes. The list, which had stuck to 11 African nations since late November, will be wiped clean.
- Angola
- Botswana
- Eswatini
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nigeria
- South Africa
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
That’s all the country names that will drop off the list. It looks like the UK is embracing the reality that a virus with a viral dance is difficult to stop at borders when it’s already doing its own squad‑do. Stay safe, folks, and maybe keep some extra masks handy—after all, the next wave might just be on the move!
Cancellations
Travel Companies Push Back: “We Need to Let Go of These Limits!”
Last week Heathrow sounded an alarm: business travelers are dropping the flight ticket in droves because they’re worried about the still‑in‑place travel rules. The airport’s CEO says the cancellations are spiking at a new peak.
What the British Government is Currently Doing
- Every inbound traveler must take a PCR or rapid lateral flow test within 48 hours before they board.
- Transport Secretary Grant Shapps plans to revisit the rule in the first week of January.
ABTA’s Chief, Mark Tanzer, Reacts
Mark Tanzer, the head of the travel association ABTA, cheered the removal of the dreaded red list. However, he snarkily notes that testing should have been scrapped too.
He says the industry will hit “a very serious situation” when the testing extends over Christmas and New Year, and the holiday booking boom for late 2022 is almost here.
“Consumer confidence in travel has suffered a significant setback, and that will outlast these restrictions,” Tanzer says.
The Human Side of the Quarantine Hurdle
- Travellers coming from former red-list nations were forced to pay thousands of pounds for quarantine stay in government‑approved hotels.
- Many have spoken out—on social media, the chat pages and even in person—about the costs and the conditions of their quarantine.
- Scarcity of rooms in these hotels left some wanderers stranded overseas, hoping a spot opens up soon.
All this paints a picture of an industry teetering on the edge, with millions of travelers hanging on a fragile thread of confidence. Will the vibe bounce back once the red list vanishes? Time will tell…
