LONDON: The United Kingdom (UK) has removed Pakistan from “red list countries” for international travel after five months, British High Commissioner Christian Turner announced on Friday.
“Pleased to confirm Pakistan is off the red list. I know how difficult the last 5 months were for so many who rely on close links between Pakistan & UK,” Christian Turner wrote on his official Twitter handle.
He said he was grateful to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, Federal minister Asad Umar and the Pakistan health ministry for their close collaboration.
???????? will continue to work closely with ???????? to ensure data sharing & safeguard public health in both countries.
No one is safe until everyone is safe.
— Christian Turner (@CTurnerFCDO) September 17, 2021
British High Commissioner further said the UK “will continue to work closely with Pakistan to ensure data sharing and safeguard public health in both countries”. “No one is safe until everyone is safe,” he added.
Meanwhile, UK’s Secretary of State for Transport Rt Hon Grant Shapps has also confirmed the development, saying that Pakistan will finally be removed from the country’s red list for travel on September 22 (Wednesday).
We’ll also be introducing a new simplified system for international travel from Mon 4 Oct ????, replacing the current approach with a single red list ???? and simplified measures for the rest of the world – striking the right balance to manage the public health risk as No.1 priority.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) September 17, 2021
“Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh, Kenya, Turkey, Egypt, and the Maldives are among the eight countries that are set to be removed from England’s red list”, according to the British official.
Providing further updates on travel restrictions, the British official said the government was making coronavirus testing easier for travel from October 4.
“If you’re fully vaccinated you won’t need a pre-departure test before arrival into England from a non-red country and from later in Oct, will be able to replace the day 2 PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow,” he wrote on Twitter.
“We’ll also be introducing a new simplified system for international travel from Mon 4 Oct, replacing the current approach with a single red list and simplified measures for the rest of the world — striking the right balance to manage the public health risk as No.1 priority,” he added.
In August, the UK retained Pakistan on its red list, as the country failed to meet the requirements on genomic surveillance capability, transmission risk, and variants of concern.
