Britain said on Friday it would add Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, and the Philippines to its travel “red list” to protect itself from the new variants of coronavirus, banning entry to people arriving from those countries unless they are British or Irish nationals.
Those who come to Britain from countries on the red list will be refused entry while returning Britons must submit to 10 days of mandatory quarantine in hotels.
From 4am on April 9, Pakistan, Kenya, the Philippines and Bangladesh will be put on the list, the government said, joining about three dozen other nations mainly in Africa, the Middle East and South America.
“Red listing means that the only UK and Irish nationals and those with residency rights in the UK will be allowed to travel to the UK if they’ve been in Pakistan in the 10 days before they arrive,” announced British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner on Twitter. The British government’s foreign travel advice for Pakistan said that the restrictions would also apply to anyone transiting through Pakistan in the 10 days prior to their arrival in the UK.
“As you know, the U.K. government has been keeping its border measures under close review because of COVID-19. Today, it is announced that Pakistan has been added to the UK’s red list of travel ban countries,” said Turner. While direct flights between the countries would continue, he said, anyone traveling from Pakistan to the UK after April 9 would be required to “pay to stay in mandatory hotel quarantine for 10 days after they arrive.”
The British nationals returning from Pakistan will be quarantined at hotels for ten days after paying Rs3.68 lacs.
There have been calls for the inclusion of some European countries where COVID-19 cases have surged, but the government has said it currently has no plans to do so.
