Remaining countries removed from England red list
The remaining seven destinations on the red list - Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela - will be removed from Monday.
Passengers returning to England from these destinations will no longer be required to enter hotel quarantine.
However, the government confirmed the red list and quarantine hotel policy “remains in place”.
A review will be carried out in three weeks.
From Monday eligible travellers with appropriate proof of vaccination from over 30 further countries and territories, including Argentina, Tanzania and Cambodia, will also qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to the UK.
This brings the total number of countries and territories covered by the inbound vaccination policy to over 135.
Transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “This is another step in the right direction for international travel with more good news today for passengers, businesses and the travel sector.
“We’re continuing to make great progress as we recover from the pandemic and today is another example of how far we have come.”
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He added: “Whether it’s reuniting family members or making it easier for businesses to trade, the success of the vaccine rollout both at home and abroad has allowed us to reach this milestone.
“However, we must not be complacent and remain ready to spring into action and defend our hard-won gains if needed.”
With the number of destinations on the red list decreasing over the past few months, the government has reduced the amount of quarantine hotel rooms it requires, to reflect lower demand from passengers.
A number of hotel rooms remain on standby should the government need to quickly respond to an increased risk from another country or territory and reintroduce Managed Quarantine Service for red list passengers.
Responding to the news, ABTA director of communications, Graeme Buck, said: “ABTA has been calling for the Government to keep the red list under review and act swiftly to remove countries when there is a reduced threat of Covid-19, so it’s great to see the government responding to these calls today.
“This news, together with the introduction of day two lateral flow tests instead of PCRs for fully vaccinated travellers returning to England – and Scotland and Wales from October 31st – means the process of booking and travelling on a foreign holiday is now cheaper and easier.”
The sentiments were echoed by Danny Callaghan, the chief executive of the Latin American Travel Association.
He added: “I’m delighted that the remaining Latin American tourism destinations are now coming off the red list.
“Latin American counties have excellent vaccination programmes and recognition of this is long overdue.
“After many challenging months, LATA members will be pleased that they can look at taking their clients to this amazing part of the world once again.
“This is a very well-needed boost for the Latin American travel sector.”