The United Kingdom added India to its travel 'red list' on Monday, 19 April, amid the surge in COVID cases in the country.
Earlier, in the evening, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called off a trip to New Delhi citing an unrelenting surge in coronavirus cases in the country.
As per Health Secretary Matt Hancock, all arrivals from India except for UK or Irish nationals has been banned temporarily.
“We’ve taken the difficult, but vital decision to add India to the Red List. This means anyone who is not a UK or Irish resident or a British citizen cannot enter the UK if they’ve been in India in the previous 10 days,” Britain Health Minister Matt Hancock told their Parliament.
According to the new order, people coming from red-list nations – which includes Pakistan and Bangladesh – must pay hefty amounts to stay at a government-approved quarantine hotel for 10 days.
Hancock said that the decision was taken considering the surging cases and the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant in India.
"In the light of the current COVID situation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be able to travel to India next week," the two governments had said in a joint statement.
Johnson and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would instead speak later this month "to agree and launch their ambitious plans for the future partnership between the UK and India", the statement added.
Meanwhile, the US’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention in a statement said that people should avoid travelling to India amid the rise in COVID-19 cases. “Even fully vaccinated people may be at risk of getting and spreading variants and should avoid all travel to India,” the body said, according to ANI.
The statement also said that one must get fully vaccinated before making a trip to India.
According to the Union Health Ministry India on Monday, 19 April, reported its highest-ever single-day spike of COVID-19 cases with over 2.73 lakh new cases and more than 1,600 deaths.
(With inputs from AFP, ANI)
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