The UK has removed South Africa and ten other countries from its red list for travel.
South Africa and other southern African nations were banned from traveling to the UK and several other countries in late November after local scientists detected the new Omicron variant and shared the information with the rest of the world.
The UK was the first to red list the region, followed by many other countries in an attempt to limit the spread of the new variant. In the weeks following the bans, the Omicron variant was detected across the world in patients who had no ties to South Africa or any of the other banned nations.
Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe were singled out by the UK, and will now be removed from the red list.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid reportedly conceded that the Omicron variant has spread so widely that the travel bans serve no purpose.
📢TRAVEL UPDATE
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 14, 2021
From 4am on Weds 15 Dec, ALL 11 countries will be removed from England's travel red đź”´ list #Internationaltravel (1/3)
“Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad. Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 04h00 tomorrow morning (Wednesday 15 December)” he reportedly told the UK parliament.
Sajid is reportedly looking at releasing those currently in the mandatory ten-day quarantine early, and possibly reimbursing those who have incurred costs.
The bans on South Africa and other nations were widely condemned by the tourism industry and medical scientists and researchers. President Cyril Ramaphosa called the bans “unjustified and unscientific“, while the World Health Organisation deemed them entirely unnecessary.
Local businesses and tourism groups, meanwhile, suffered immense damage as flights and accommodation bookings got cancelled en masse, setting up a bleak festive period for an industry that was already battered from a shutdown in 2020.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation welcomed the lifting of the ban.
The government of South Africa welcomes the announcement by the UK to remove South Africa from the #redlist. This is what President Cyril Ramaphosa has been calling for. The unscientific travel ban had a devastating impact on 2-way business, travel & tourism industry & families.
— DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) December 14, 2021
Sources: BusinessTech, The Citizen
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