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Travelers have been released from quarantine hotels after the government removed the UK’s red list.
Some were told they could leave from 4 p.m., 12 hours after the requirement to self-isolate in a hotel was dropped for new arrivals.
Other travelers left their accommodation before that date, we learned.
COVID Live News: Omicron Data Being Softer Has Been “Overinterpreted”
The decision of remove the red list of trips, and remove the 11 African countries that were part of it, came as the system became “less effective in slowing the incursion” of the new variant of the Omicron coronavirus.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said released travelers “will get a refund for the part of the space they have booked and have not used”.
However, only travelers who test negative COVID-19[female[feminine will be allowed to leave and people who test positive – or those who are not fully vaccinated and come into contact with someone who tests positive – must remain in quarantine.
Initial concerns about the new variant led the government to place 11 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia, on the red list, which meant people arriving from there had to spend 11 nights in a hotel. from quarantine for £ 2,285 for a single person. travelers.
However, travelers entering the UK are now required to take a pre-departure test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a post-arrival test.
The change comes as the UK reports its highest daily number of positive COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, at 78,610.
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Javid: all countries will be removed from the red list
Another 4,671 cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed, bringing the total to 10,017.
Jonathan Mogford, who is responsible for the managed quarantine service at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), told the Commons Transport Committee on Wednesday that there had been “unprecedented rates” of positive results coronavirus cases among Red List travelers.
He said the latest figures suggest that “almost 5% of people in hotels are positive.”
There have been “around 5,000 guests in this series of red lists,” he said, indicating that around 250 of those people have tested positive.
UKHSA chief executive Dr Jenny Harries said travel restrictions to have “a time and a place” to protect public health.
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She told MPs the Red List was deployed “as a delaying tactic”, giving the UK “time to prepare” for the Omicron variant.
But now that the strain’s growth rate in the UK is “significant”, it is “really important” that the country-specific restrictions are lifted, Dr Harries said.
