The UK’s red list for international travel has been cut down to zero countries as of 1 November.
The final seven nations that remained on the high-risk list, necessitating a costly 11-night stint in hotel quarantine for UK arrivals, moved onto the Rest of World (ROW) list at 4am this morning.
Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela are now subject to the same rules as everywhere else – fully vaccinated passengers entering the UK from there have no need to quarantine, and must take one Covid test (PCR or rapid antigen) within two days of arriving.
Unvaccinated arrivals need to show a negative test predeparture, quarantine for 10 days on arrival, and take two PCR tests on days two and eight of self-isolation.
The UK does not recognise all countries’ vaccination certificates yet, although the list of accepted destinations is also growing by an extra 35 from today.
Some 139 destinations’ vaccines are now recognised, including all EU countries.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “This is another step in the right direction for international travel with more good news today for passengers, businesses and the travel sector. We’re continuing to make great progress as we recover from the pandemic and today is another example of how far we have come.
“Whether it’s reuniting family members or making it easier for businesses to trade, the success of the vaccine rollout both at home and abroad has allowed us to reach this milestone.
“However, we must not be complacent and remain ready to spring into action and defend our hard-won gains if needed.”
To this end, the red list will continue to exist, even though no countries remain on it – the Department for Transport will continue to review the Covid data every three weeks, with the possibility that destinations could be pushed back down to red status.
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