Omicron variant: UK bows to pressure, removes Nigeria, 10 others from red list

United Kingdom Government, Tuesday, announced that Nigeria along with 10 other African countries will be removed from it travel red list from 4am on Wednesday.

Oracle Today had earlier, Tuesday, reported that the United Kingdom Parliament has reportedly initiated moves aimed at rescinding the order, as it now seeks to replace it with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests for arrivals from the affected countries.

According to reports from tabloids in the UK, the travel red list policy of the British Government which has seen countries like Nigeria and South Africa having travel bans imposed on them will be revisited following the backlash which has trailed its imposition.

UK’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, had reportedly convinced his colleagues that the ban should be replaced with testing.

“The move is expected to be approved this week”, it was reported.

Nigeria, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are on the list.

The red list was reintroduced in late November as a precaution after the emergence of the Omicron variant.

However, commenting, Tuesday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it had spread so widely the rules no longer had much purpose.

“Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad,” he told Parliament, Tuesday.

“Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4am tomorrow morning.”

Currently, all UK arrivals from red list countries must pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked, government-approved hotel for 10 days.

Some travellers have already paid thousands of pounds to stay in government-approved quarantine hotels, and there have been complaints of chaotic organisation and inedible food during their stays.

Mr Javid said he had asked for urgent advice on whether those currently in managed quarantine would be able to leave early.

He also said he was “very persuaded” by calls to reimburse people and hoped to make an announcement soon.

The point of putting countries on the red list was to act quickly to slow the spread of Omicron.

Now it has spread in the community, the government does not think putting people from a limited list of countries in hotels is useful.

It will be welcome news to people with plans to come to the UK from countries like South Africa and Nigeria, or who had delayed their return from those countries.

However, it will be frustrating for those who did get caught up in the revival of the red list, which only started about a fortnight ago. Some people currently staying in hotels would like to see the government pay their costs.

The travel industry wants all restrictions removed. Businesses see testing measures as putting a dampener on their recovery. It seems the government is not prepared to go that far, just yet.

The move follows anger from African countries, with the United Nations describing the ban on non-UK residents entering England as “travel apartheid”.

The travel industry had also warned the restrictions were hurting business.

Speaking, Sunday, Aviation Minister, Sirika, said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration will also put the United Kingdom, Canada, and Saudi Arabia on a no-fly list because of the Omicron variant’s breakout and expansion.

“If those countries put Nigeria on a blacklist,” the minister said, “then they have no moral right to have their airlines fly into Nigeria on commercial flights.”

Continuing, Sirika said: “Then there’s the case of Saudi Arabia, which placed Nigeria on a no-fly list. I attended a meeting with the COVID-19 task team on Sunday.

“We have expressed our dissatisfaction with it, and we have urged that Canada, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina be included to the red list as well.”

“If they don’t let our folks into their nations, as they did to us, who are they going to pick from our country as airlines?”

“They are not permitted to enter. I am confident that in the next three days, on Monday or Tuesday, all of those nations will be included to COVID-19’s red list,” the minister stated.