The British government has added India to its list of travel bans, amid rising coronavirus cases in the country and the emergence of a new variant that scientists fear could be partially resistant to vaccines.
Under the new rules coming into force at 4:00 on Friday, UK time, anyone who is not a British or Irish citizen or has residence rights in the UK will be denied entry to the UK if they have been in India for the past 10 days .
The ban is necessary to “protect the progress we have made in this country in fighting this terrible disease,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons on Monday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier canceled a visit to India scheduled for next week, during which he was to meet with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. Coronavirus cases have hit a record in India over the weekend, fueled by the emergence of a new variant.
Under investigation
Hancock said health authorities had so far identified 103 cases of the variant in the UK, the “vast majority” related to international travel. The evidence is analyzed for any “related features,” he said.
Researchers are investigating how transmissible the variant is, as well as its potential ability to evade vaccines. Officials still call it “a variant under investigation” rather than a “worrying one”, and in the UK overvoltage tests are being carried out to try to contain its spread.
Asked if the vaccines were effective against the new variant, Hancock told members of parliament: “We just don’t know that. We act as a precaution. He said the main concern was “vaccines may be less effective in transmitting and / or reducing hospitalization and death.”
India is one of the largest markets for air travel in the world and has strong ties to the British population, which dates back to the British colonial era. The South Asian country had generally managed until recently, keeping infection rates low.
The case arises
It now has the fastest-growing number of Covid-19 cases in the world, adding 273,810 new infections and 1,619 deaths on Monday, leaving it in the United States alone in terms of the total number.
“India is a country I know well and love,” Hancock said. “We have ties of friendship and family between our two countries. I understand the impact of this decision, but I do the hope The House will agree that we must act. ”
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India’s addition to the so-called red list means that any British citizen returning to the UK will have to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days, which can cost up to £ 1,750 ($ 2,450).
Britain’s decision follows similar actions by Hong Kong, which has banned flights from India for 14 days since April 20 after dozens of New Delhi passengers tested positive for Covid-19 in Hong Kong, India’s Press Trust reported on Saturday.
Carriers, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., Air India and India Vistara currently operate services between Indian and UK cities.
Red List
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Brazil, South Africa and the Philippines are among other countries on the UK red list. While travel to the UK is currently banned for most people until at least May 17 in accordance with the country’s blockade rules, flights have continued to operate for those exempt from the rules.
Earlier Monday, Johnson told broadcasters he was “sensitive” to postponing his trip to India, given the pandemic there. He said he intends to speak virtually with Modi and hopes to attend the World Group of Seven Summit in Britain in June.
While Johnson’s predecessor, former Prime Minister David Cameron, has pursued a strategy to increase trade ties with both India and China, relations with Beijing have worsened in recent months – placing diplomacy with New Delhi at the center. plans of Great Britain.
(Updates with Hancock’s comment in the seventh paragraph)