The British government is set to ban international arrivals from Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines. The ban comes as part of the British government's red list of 35 countries so far, including Brazil, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and South Africa.
The U.K.'s government site offers this admonition about the red listed countries: "If you have been in or through any of the countries listed below in the previous 10 days, you will be refused entry to the U.K."
But the site also says, "If you have been in a country on the travel ban red list in the 10 days before you arrive, you have to quarantine in a government approved hotel."
According to ABC, the U.K. government is enacting the measures to provide a bulwark against the new virus variant; there are a total of 126,500 deaths so far.
So far, no European nations have been put on the U.K.'s red list. But the new virus strain could be the cause of the resurgence in the virus. The resurgence is causing some countries to reimpose lockdown measures. On Monday, the World Health Organization indicated that while the U.K. has seen progress in the way of vaccinations, the rest of Europe seems to be lagging behind.
Some speculate that although France has experienced one of the worst outbreaks so far, its absence on the red list could be due to maintaining trade flows between nations. The U.K., which has seen its death toll fall, could be due to a strict three-month lockdown imposed over the winter along with the rollout of vaccines.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to be careful on Easter. "Even though your friends and family members may be vaccinated, the vaccines are not giving 100% protection, and that's why we just need to be cautious."
The British government has since relaxed its restrictions for the Easter holiday weekend following a decline in infections.
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