JUST IN: Nigeria, 10 others removed from UK red list

The United Kingdom government on Tuesday announced the removal of Nigeria and 10 other countries from its red list.

The UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, announced this while addressing Members of Parliament.

Javid said the red list is “now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad”.

“So I can announce today that whilst we’ll maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel, we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4:00 am tomorrow,” Javid added.

The 10 other countries initially placed on the list include Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The red list was reintroduced in late November as a precaution after the emergence of the new Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

Now, all UK arrivals from those countries must pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked, government-approved hotel for 10 days.

They must also take COVID tests within 48 hours of setting off for the UK and PCR tests within two days of their arrival.

The reversal comes just days after Nigeria said it had plans to also place the UK on a red list.

Since Britain first reported Omicron cases, only 10 cases have led to hospital admission, while one person has died.