UK To Add India On Covid-19 Travel ‘Red List’ After 103 People Test Positive For Indian Variant

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement in this regard stating India will be added to England’s travel “red list” from 4 a.m. on Friday, as surge testing got under way to tackle a growth in cases of a coronavirus variant first discovered in the country, The Guardian reports.

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London: Amid the spurt in Covid-19 cases, the United Kingdom will add India to its coronavirus ‘red list’ of nations, banning all arrivals from the country.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement in this regard stating India will be added to England’s travel “red list” from 4 a.m. on Friday, as surge testing got underway to tackle growth in cases of a coronavirus variant first discovered in the country, The Guardian reports.

Stating that of 103 people in the UK who have so far been found to be carrying the Indian variant, the Health Secretary said the “vast majority” had links to international travel – suggesting at least some have been infected by community transmission.

READ: UK PM Boris Johnson Cancels Visit To India Due To COVID Surge

He said the move had been taken on a “precautionary basis”, adding the scientists were working to see if the variant had any “concerning characteristics” such as being more transmissible or resistant to vaccines.

Admitting that the “biggest risk” to coronavirus restrictions being eased was a “new variant that the vaccine does not work as well against”, Hancock said surge testing would be rolled out in a bid to “limit the spread as much as possible”.

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This comes as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled his scheduled visit to India amid the surge in Covid-19 cases.

“In view of the worsening COVID-19 situation, it has been decided by mutual agreement that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will not visit India next week. The two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-UK relationship,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in an official statement.