MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and three other countries have been added to the United Kingdom’s travel “red list,” which means that travelers from these countries — except British or Irish nationals and residents — will be denied entry.
“Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh have been added to England’s red list to protect the country against new variants of coronavirus (COVID-19), at a critical time for the vaccine programme,” Britain’s foreign travel advisory issued on Friday read.
“With over 30 million vaccinations delivered in the UK so far, the additional restrictions will help to reduce the risk of new variants – such as those first identified in South Africa (SA) and Brazil – entering England,” it added.
According to the advisory, visitors who have departed from or transited through the said countries in the last 10 days “will be refused entry into England.” The entry ban will begin at 4 a.m. (U.K. time) on April 9.
“You cannot enter the UK from the Philippines unless you are a British or Irish national, or if you are a third country national (including Filipino) who has residence rights in the UK,” the British Embassy in Manila said in a separate Facebook post.
“If you are still eligible to enter then you will now be required, in England, to undergo hotel quarantine for 10 days after your arrival, if you have departed from or transited through the Philippines in the preceding 10 days. You will need to cover the cost of this from your own expense,” it added.
Passengers allowed to enter the United Kingdom will be required to submit to coronavirus testing on or before the second day of their quarantine and again on or after the eighth day.
“[T]hey will not be allowed to shorten their quarantine period on receipt of a negative test result. They will also not be able to end their managed quarantine early through the Test to Release scheme,” Britain’s advisory added.
The Philippines on Friday logged a new record-high in daily new cases at 15,130 additional infections. The figure, however, includes 3,790 case backlogs due to technical problems in the COVID-19 database.
The country’s tally now stands at 771,497. Of this number, 153,809 are active cases.