The United Kingdom added Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Kenya to its red list, in order to protect the nation “against new variants of coronavirus.” After this, travel from and to these four nations has been banned, an order that will come in effect from April 9. The ban comes in the wake of the new variants of coronavirus detected in those regions, like those detected in South Africa and Brazil.

The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) in a statement said, “Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh have been added to England’s red list to protect the country against new variants of coronavirus (COVID-19), at a critical time for the vaccine programme.”

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The transport department said that additional restrictions will help to reduce the risk of new variants – “such as those first identified in South Africa (SA) and Brazil – entering England.”

“So far, surveillance has found that few cases of the SA variant have been identified as being imported from Europe, with most coming from other parts of the world,” it said.

The travel between India and UK is operational as both the nations have an air bubble pact for essential travel, while non-essential international travel from the UK remains banned under current lockdown rules.

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International visitors from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Phillippines and Kenya will be refused entry into England from 4 am local time next Friday. These four nations join a 40-country red list of England. 

Only British and Irish citizens, or those with residence rights in the UK (including long-term visa holders), will be allowed to enter and they must stay in a government-approved quarantine facility for 10 days.

During their stay, all passengers linked to the red list are required to take a coronavirus test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8, and are not allowed to shorten their compulsory 10-day quarantine period on receipt of a negative test result.

Overseas travel is likely to ease for Britons only after May 17, as part of the UK government’s phased roadmap for lifting coronavirus lockdown restrictions.