Somalia has been added to the “red list” of countries from where travel to England is banned, the UK’s Department for Transport said this week.
UK government said the ban on commercial and private planes travelling from Oman, Ethiopia and Qatar will also come into force on Friday to reduce the risk of importing “variants of concern”.
Britain said from 4am on Friday, March 19, 2021, visitors who have departed from or transited through these countries in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into England.
According to the UK’s Department for Transport, other countries added to this are Ethiopia, Qatar, Oman.
These travel bans have been implemented is to protect the country against new variants of the Covid-19 virus.
Effective 1pm on January 29, and excluding third-country nationals who have residence rights, the UK also banned all non-British or Irish passengers who departed from or transited through the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda in the preceding 10 days.
Meanwhile, Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) and Mauritius will be removed from England’s red list, while the flight and maritime ban from Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) will also be shelved based on evidence that the risk of importing a variant of concern from these destinations has reduced.
Passengers arriving into England from these destinations will no longer be required to quarantine in a government approved facility. However, they must self-isolate for 10 days on arrival to the UK at home and take a Covid-19 test on day 2 and day 8 and will be able to able to end self-isolation early through Test to Release.
