Today (Monday 19 April), the UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps has confirmed that India will be placed on the ‘Red List’ this coming Friday over concerns of a Coronavirus variant that could evade the vaccine.
From 4am on Friday, anyone returning to the UK from India must now quarantine in a hotel – with a negative PCR before departing India. The hotel must be booked in advance for 11 nights, at Heathrow. Anyone returning before then will only be asked to quarantine at home, together with PCR tests on days 5 & 8.
India now joins a long list of countries, mainly in South America, Africa and Asia where travel restrictions have been brought into place, to help stop the importation of ‘Variants of Concern’.