Travel to UK: Bangladesh remains on red list, India moves up

Bangladesh has been on the red list for travel to the UK since April while its neighbouring country India has recently moved to the amber list as Covid infections dropped there.    

The UK government has included 59 others in the international travel red list and restricted UK nationals from traveling to these nations.

While updating the lists recently, the UK has moved India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from the red to the amber list. So, travelers from these countries will no longer have to stay in quarantine in a hotel for 10 days upon arrival in the UK. 

The changes will come into effect on Sunday. 

The UK government has also introduced a "green watchlist" to identify which countries are most likely to be shifted from green to amber.

This traffic light system has been effective since 17 May, and it was prepared by the Global Travel Taskforce. 

The UK government has instructed that any British nationals returning from high-risk or "red list" countries must stay quarantined at a hotel to prevent new coronavirus infections and variants

According to transport secretary Grant Shapps, red list countries are "those which should not be visited except in the most extreme of circumstances".
Countries reclassified from previous lists

The red list originally had 30 countries when hotel quarantine was first introduced for international travelers on 15 February. Later the list was stretched to include 60 nations. 

The most recent additions were Georgia, Mexico, La Réunion and Mayotte.

Someone coming back from a red list country or territory to the UK must stay hotel-quarantined for 10 days and must ensure that they have taken a pre-departure Covid test. Upon arrival, the PCR test must be taken on the second and eighth days.

Why Bangladesh got red listed

Bangladesh is considered a destination of high risk because of the prevalence of the variants of concern.  

According to the Global Travel Taskforce report published on 9 April, the key factors to weigh risk are the infection rate, prevalence of variants of concern and the progress in the vaccination programme. Reliability of data and genomic sequencing capability have been taken into account as well.

For the past 5 weeks, Bangladesh's daily confirmed cases per 100 tests have ranged between 25% and 33%, and daily deaths have crossed the 200 mark. The figures suggest a high probability of travelers from these countries coming out Covid positive.  

Mandatory quarantine for travellers

Some hotels have been assigned for the mandatory quarantine of all red list arrivals. Arrivals who fail to undergo the stipulated hotel quarantine will have to pay up to £10,000 worth fines. Hotel quarantines are to be financed by travelers themselves, at a cost of £1,750 per person for those travelling alone, which includes 10 days' (11 nights') room and board. Additional people in the same hotel room pay significantly less.

List: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/booking-and-staying-in-a-quarantine-hotel-wh...