All travellers arriving in England will be required to take a Covid-19 pre-departure test – while Nigeria is being added to the Government’s travel red list, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said.
Mr Javid said the Government had decided to move after receiving new data about the spread of the Omicron variant, which emerged in southern Africa.
“Since we have learned of this new variant our strategy has been to buy time. We have always said we will act swiftly should new data require it,” he told broadcasters.
“Over recent days we have learned of a significant number of growing cases linked to travel with Nigeria.
“There are 27 cases already in England and that’s growing. Nigeria now is second only to South Africa in terms of linked cases to Omicron.”
Under the new rules, from 4am on Monday only British and Irish nationals travelling from Nigeria will be allowed into the country and must isolate in a government-managed quarantine hotel.
And from 4am on Tuesday, anyone travelling to the UK from countries not on the red list will be required to take a pre-departure test a maximum of 48 hours before leaving, regardless of their vaccination.
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