FORTY-SEVEN destinations including South Africa will be removed from England’s red list on Monday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced.
The changes will come into effect from 4am on Monday 11 October.
Passengers returning to England from these destinations will no longer be required to enter hotel quarantine.
The Government will also extend the inbound vaccinated arrivals system to a further 37 countries and territories across the globe including India, South Africa and Turkey, meaning eligible passengers arriving from rest of world countries only need to take a day two test in England.
And it said passengers will be able to send a picture of their lateral flow test as a minimum requirement to verify test result accuracy and keep prices down once day two tests switch to lateral flow later this month, followed by a free PCR test if positive.
Shapps tweeted: "I’ll be cutting 47 destinations from our red list – including South Africa, with just 7 countries and territories remaining - all others will be included in the “rest of world” category."
He added: “I'm also making changes so travellers visiting England have fewer entry requirements, by recognising those with fully-vax status from 37 new countries and territories including India, Turkey and Ghana, treating them the same as UK fully vax passengers.
“The measures announced today mark the next step as we continue to open up travel and provide stability for passengers and industry while remaining on track to keep travel open for good.”
UPDATE: From Monday (11th Oct) 📅 I’ll be cutting 47 destinations from our red list – including South Africa, with just 7 countries and territories remaining ⚠️ - all others will be included in the “rest of world” category 🌐 [1/3]
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 7, 2021
Full list of seven countries to remain on red list
The seven countries to remain on the red list are:
- Colombia
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Haiti
- Panama
- Peru
- Venezuela
Full list of 47 countries removed from red list
The following countries will move off the red list at 4am Monday 11 October. If you arrive in England before then, you need to follow the red list rules.
- Afghanistan
- Angola
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Burundi
- Cape Verde
- Chile
- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- French Guiana
- Georgia
- Guyana
- Indonesia
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Paraguay
- Philippines
- Réunion
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Uruguay
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
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