Following review of the latest risk assessment from UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Nigeria and the other 10 countries and territories on the red list have been removed from 4am Wednesday 15 December.
READ ALSO:1Omicron: Nigeria urges Britain to rescind red list decision
This was contain in a press statement by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria Mr, Catriona Laing CB said on Tuesday through British Embassy in Anuja Nigeria.
The statement read ” UK’s ministers made the decision based on the scientific and Public Health data to remove Nigeria and others from UK’s travel red list.
“Passengers arriving from Nigeria, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe will not have to stay in a
managed quarantine hotel on arrival in England from this date.
“As Omicron cases rise in the UK and in countries around the world, the travel red list is less effective in slowing the incursion of the variant from abroad and these temporary
measures are no longer proportionate.
“The red list has successfully served its purpose in delaying the spread of Omicron into the UK to buy time for scientists to learn more
about this variant.
“All vaccinated passengers arriving in the UK must continue to take a pre-departure test two days or less before they depart for the UK and must take a PCR test on or
before day 2 and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
“These testing measures are vital in helping to prevent any additional cases of Omicron from entering
the UK and stopping people from passing it on to others.
This is a critical phase in tackling the Omicron and the Government’s focus remains on slowing the spread of the variant in the UK – through maintaining testing requirements at the border, through the introduction of Plan B measures, and by
turbocharging the booster rollout.
The emergence of the Omicron variant is a reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and like all countries around the world the UK has had to take difficult decisions to protect public health.
“We took this necessary precautionary action to give us time to understand the
challenge we and others faced, and to slow down the spread of Omicron while
” I know this will be welcome news for students, tourists, businesses and families in the
UK and Nigeria, although I recognise the impact that these temporary health measures have” The UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid said:
“The red list bought our scientists time to learn more about Omicron and to slow the seeding of the variant from abroad into the UK.
“Now that there are high levels of community transmission, it is right to remove the red list and focus on our national
effort to tackle Omicron.
“With cases doubling every two to three days we’ve turbocharged our booster
programme, we are asking arrivals to keep testing to limit the spread of new cases, and we are introducing Plan B measures to protect the country from the threat of this new variant.”
While all countries have now been removed from the red list, the managed quarantine hotel policy remains in place to act as a crucial line of defence against the
importation of variants of concern.
“Restrictions will be reimposed should there be a need to do so to protect public health.
“Airlines will continue to check all passengers for pre-departure tests alongside their completed Passenger Locator Form, and passengers will not be allowed to board a flight without providing evidence of a negative test result.
“The government will take further action if necessary to contain the virus and the new
variant, as has been the case throughout the pandemic. The UKHSA continues to monitor the situation closely, in partnership with scientific and public health organisations across the world, and the government is working collaboratively with the World Health Organisation and countries around the world to better understand the new variant.
