UK bans passengers from Bangladesh and 3 other countries

The UK has added four countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kenya and the Philippines to the 'red list' of the travel ban.

People who have been in or through any of the countries on the red list in the previous 10 days will be refused entry to the UK, reports The Guardian.

British or Irish nationals and those who have residence rights in the UK will be able to enter, but must quarantine in a government approved hotel for 10 days.

The full list of countries subjected to the travel ban now includes Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh (from 4am Friday 9 April), Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Guyana, Kenya (from 4am Friday 9 April), Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Oman, Pakistan (from 4am Friday 9 April), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines from 4am Friday 9 April), Qatar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The UK government said in a statement that Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh have been added to England's red list to protect the country against new variants of coronavirus (COVID-19), at a critical time for the vaccine programme.

With over 30 million vaccinations delivered in the UK so far, the additional restrictions will help to reduce the risk of new variants – such as those first identified in South Africa (SA) and Brazil – entering England.

So far, surveillance has found that few cases of the SA variant have been identified as being imported from Europe, with most coming from other parts of the world.