Four more countries are in line to be added to the coronavirus red list, an expert has predicted.
Bahrain, Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Kuwait may soon be added, due largely to their high infection rates, according to former BA strategist Robert Boyle.
If they are then they would join 43 other countries which have stringent rules dictating how people get into the UK.
Mr Boyle made his prediction ahead of a government review into the traffic light system, which will likely make holidays to some hotspots easier and trips to others much more difficult.
The analyst used global coronavirus case and testing rate data to plot a graph of countries and their travel status.
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Bahrain, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and Kuwait - which are all currently amber - have rates closer to or above other red list countries.
Those flying into the UK from such destinations have to spend ten days in a quarantine hotel.
Mr Boyle also noted the countries classified as amber that have rates similar to green list countries.
"There are three additional countries that seem like clear cases for getting onto the green list - Malta, Finland and Slovakia," he told The Sun.
He added: "There are seven other countries that could be classified green if the EU threshold for case rates is used.
"Five of these are in the EU: Austria, Czechia, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg."
Mr Boyle said Russia makes the grade but would likely not be added for political reasons, while the US is on the EU's case rate threshold.
Although the government has not announced when the travel list will be updated, it is expected in the next week
There are currently 12 countries on the green list, all of which have low coronavirus rates and high levels of vaccine distribution.
They are Ascension Island, Australia, Brunei, the Falkland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Iceland, Israel, New Zealand, Portugal, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, Singapore, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The government is being pushed from two different sides when it comes to the decision as to whether to ease travel between more countries.
On the one hand, some scientists including Prof Ravi Gupta, from the University of Cambridge, have warned that the UK is now at the beginning of a third wave of infections and should generally proceed with caution.
Others, such as Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, are pushing for travel restrictions to be eased in a bid to boost the sector.
“The highly successful UK vaccine rollout has already enabled hundreds and thousands of British families to book their flights to Portugal this summer, and today we call on Minister Grant Shapps to include all EU countries in the next revision of the UK’s green list so UK holidaymakers can travel restriction-free to the beaches of Spain, Greece and Italy – all of whom have opened their doors to British visitors this summer," he said on Tuesday,
He added: "There is no justification for the UK Govt to delay the removal of all travel restrictions for those who have been fully vaccinated when research from Public Health England has demonstrated that two doses of the C-19 vaccines are highly effective against the Indian variant."
