New Telegraph

COVID-19: UK places Nigeria, others on red list

The British government has included Nigeria among the 183 countries in its amber list. This means travelers from those countries to the UK must be quarantined for at least five days before integrating into the community. Countries in amber list are Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba, Bosnia and Herzegovina, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece (including islands), Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala. Others are Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia. To make up the list are Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Nauru, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, North Macedonia, Norway, The Occupied Palestinian Territories, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, Poland, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain (including the Balearics and Canary Islands), Sri Lanka, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Martin and St Barthélemy, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United States (USA), Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Yemen.

The red list countries of which entry to the UK is barred are Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Guyana, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives (currently on the amber list. Will move to the red list 4am, May 12), Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal (currently on the amber list. Will move to the red list 4am, May 12), Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Turkey (currently on the amber list.

Will move to the red list 4am, May 12), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe. More countries are set to be placed on the Government’s ‘red list’, meaning passengers from there are barred from entering the UK, unless they are British or Irish nationals. The Maldives, Nepal and Turkey are the latest countries and territories added to the red list on May 12th, 2021, meaning visitors from these countries won’t be allowed through Heathrow or Gatwick to protect the UK from potential new variants of coronavirus. Transportation Secretary, Grant Shapps, also advised that no person resident in England should travel to those countries under the AMBER watch list in which Nigeria is included. Shapps gave the rationale for the UK government’s fears that those nations, as for those destinations, are deemed to be highly suspicious for the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

Shapps said the measure was part of the steps towards opening up travel in the United Kingdom. He added that the strategy was to ensure the COVID- 19 pandemic does not begin to spread again. Other European destinations on the amber list, apart from Nigeria, include Spain, Italy and France. He said the government opted for the new travel restrictions even against European countries because the “success of combating COVID-19 virus epidemic in the UK is not the same in many countries abroad”.

Hence, he added that British citizens and alien residents must make sure that they reconnect only with destinations the government is deemed to be safe. The twelve destinations UK government has given clean bill of health for travel and of which returnees would not be compelled to quarantine are Portugal, Israel, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Iceland, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands. St Helena, Tristan de Cunha, Ascension Island are considered to be amongst the twelve green light destinations.

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