A critical care nurse helping sick Covid patients in Africa is now looking forward to spending Christmas with his family after travel restrictions were eased.
John Irvine has been treating those struck down with Covid in Malawi for the past two months, and had faced spending the festive season on his own in a quarantine hotel, due to the country being on the UK's red list.
But restrictions were lifted last week and the 50-year-old will now make a "mad dash" home to Linlithgow, Scotland when he returns on Thursday, Daily Record reports.
John has been training intensive care and A&E medics on how to save critically ill patients, and was due to come home last month but instead extended his stay due to the discovery of the Omicron variant in South Africa.
He had been working on a ward for pregnant women with Covid.
John, who is based at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, said: “It’s great news I will be able to enjoy a normal Christmas with my family, although I’ll now need to make a mad dash to the shops to buy presents.”
Arrivals from the 11 African countries put on the red list no longer need to quarantine after the measure was lifted – as long as they test negative for Covid.
John, who is an ex-soldier, is part of the UK’s Emergency Medical Team which is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
He arrived in Malawi on October 14 following a request for support from the African country.
The UK’s minister for Africa, Vicky Ford, praised “brave medics like John Irvine”.
