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Travel by UK visitors from South Africa has been banned over concerns over a variant of Covid-19 linked to the country.
People who have been or have passed through South Africa in the last 10 days are no longer allowed into the UK.
The new rule does not apply to British and Irish nationals – but they will have to self-isolate.
Covid-19: UK bans travel from South Africa via variant https://t.co/flLkWAbkFn
– BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 24, 2020
The variant was found in London and in the North West of England, both in contacts of people who had been in South Africa.
The Transport Department said the ban reflects the “increased risk” of the new variant, but will remain under review.
Anyone who is required to quarantine will have to do so for 10 days, along with members of their household.
UK visa holders and permanent residents arriving from South Africa will not be affected – but they will also need to self-isolate.
The government had previously ordered anyone in the UK who had visited South Africa in the past fifteen weeks, and anyone with whom she had been in contact, to immediately quarantine, along with their household .
The travel ban went into effect at 9:00 a.m. GMT on Christmas Eve, after the government announced that six million more people in England were being transferred to the highest level four restrictions on December 26.
During a press briefing in Downing Street on Wednesday, Health Secretary Hancock said the new South Africa-linked variant was “of great concern”.
Quarantine exemptions typically in place – including those related to employment – do not apply, he added.
The variant was first detected in the UK on Tuesday.
Scientists in South Africa say it is still being analyzed, but data supports its faster spread.
It shares some similarities with another new variant of Covid which has already been detected in the UK, although they have evolved separately.
Both have a mutation – called N501Y – which is in a crucial part of the virus that it uses to infect cells in the body.
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